


Youthful Yearnings

by alexdamien



Series: Remade Anew [14]
Category: Saint Seiya
Genre: Drama, Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 08:07:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 22,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23847913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexdamien/pseuds/alexdamien
Summary: Tormented by the darkness in his mind, Saga finds comfort in Aioria. But when they start to develop feelings for each other they run against strong opposition from Aioros, whose rage unleashes a greater problem that they'll have to endure.Contains tiny characters! Aioros holding babies! The very first KanonRhadaSaga threesome to be posted in this website!
Relationships: Capricorn Shura/Sagittarius Aiolos, Gemini Kanon/Wyvern Rhadamanthys, Gemini Kanon/Wyvern Rhadamanthys/Gemini Saga, Gemini Saga/Leo Aiolia
Series: Remade Anew [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1633726
Comments: 19
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A great thank you to the lovely CallieParis for betaing this fic. Without her great help this fic would have turned out very differently. I really cannot thank you enough for you assistance and all your helpful comments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic happens very soon after my other fic Apologies, which explains why Aioria is blind and has lost all color. It also explains why Aioros is weak and needs to recover. The background of Saga's relationship with Kanon is explained in my fic "Returning". So if you've just arrived and want more information I would recommend reading those first.  
> Despite this, though, you can also read this fic on it's own and won't miss much.

Saga finally put together all of his force of will and made his way to Sagittarius to confront Aioros and talk about what had happened. He stood before the door of the Sagittarius residence and took a deep breath, but before he could knock on the door he heard something crash inside and Shura yelling

“Aioros you’re going to get hurt! You’re going to hurt him!” came Shura’s voice from inside.

Alarmed, Saga grabbed the doorknob and crushed it to force open the door. “Shura?! Aioros?!” he called.

Inside, he found Aioria reaching desperately towards the door. Aioros on the floor clinging to his leg, and Shura trying to pull him away from Aioria.

“What…what is happening?” asked Saga.

“Let me goooo!” cried Aioria. He still looked deathly white, from his hair to his eyes, and every inch of his skin. “I have to go back to Leo!”

“No! You’re going to get hurt!” cried Aioros, pulling him back. “You can’t even see yet!”

Saga blinked. “You can’t see?” he asked.

“That doesn’t matter!” said Aioria, finally freeing his leg from Aioros’ clutches, then trying to run and crashing straight into Saga.

“Don’t run! You’re going to trip and fall!” said Aioros, trying to stand up and failing.

“Aioros, you can barely walk,” said Shura, kneeling down next to Aioros to help him sit up on the floor.

Saga pushed some of Aioria’s white hair away from his face, and noticed his unfocused eyes. “You really can’t see.”

“I’m fine! I know the way to Leo by heart.”

“No," said Aioros. "You can’t go. Just stay for a few days more. Let’s see if your eyes get better.”

“Athena said that it might be months until I recover. I can’t stay here for months!”

Saga sighed. “Well, if you need help, I could assist you until you get back your senses,” he said. “Gemini is very close to Leo. Much closer than Sagittarius.”

Aioria calmed down, but Aioros got even more upset.

“Of course not! He can just stay here, there’s no need,” he said, and once more tried to stand up from the floor, holding on to Shura.

Aioria held on to Saga and pulled his leg away from Aioros' hold. “No, it’s perfect! Or houses really are very close. Thank you Saga, let’s go!” he said and pulled Saga towards a wall. Saga grabbed a hold of him and steered him towards the door.

“Aioria! Come back!” yelled Aioria after them while they ran out of the house of Sagittarius.

Saga caught Aioria before he could trip on the first step. “Watch out,” he said, and held him against his chest.

“Ah, right. Thank you,” said Aioria, feeling with his feet for the next step.

“Let me carry you,” said Saga, grabbing him to carry him bridal style, but Aioria pushed him away.

“What? N-No, I’m fine. I just said that to get out, so that Aioros wouldn’t worry, but I’m fine,” said Aioria.

Saga lifted an elegant eyebrow at that, but let go of Aioria. “Really?”

“Yes. He’s worrying too much, but he and Shura…they need some time alone. I’m tired of feeling like a third wheel between th-,” he tripped on the next step and fell forward right into Saga’s waiting arms.

Saga gave another sigh, and pulled up Aioria in his arms, carrying him down the steps.

“It’s fine if you haven’t recovered yet,” he said. “Instead of pretending that everything is ok, you should focus on resting and recovering.”

Aioria huffed. “Don’t tell Aioros. He’s already very worried that I’m…not making much progress.”

“What does Athena say about your condition?”

“That it’s fine. She said it’ll be at least a couple months until I regain my sight, and even more until I fully recover. But other than that, she says this is all temporary,” he said. “And I would have stayed, but…the tension between them. I really can’t stand it!”

Saga gave a soft laugh. “Yes, I can imagine.”

They descended the steps of the houses slowly, the wind that howled through the trees growing ever colder.

“You really don’t have to take care of me,” finally said Aioria. “Thank you for helping me get out, but-“

“It’s fine. Let me help you. We all…could do with some help. It’s the least I could do when you took care of me during the Halloween party”, said Saga, remembering that awful night.

Aioria laughed in his arms. “You left your ears and paws at Leo, by the way,” he said, looking up at him with unseeing eyes. “But don’t worry, it was nothing.”

“Let me help. At least until you can get around more easily”

Aioria smiled. A bit of help would be nice. “Ok, but just a little. I don’t want to take too much of your time.”

Saga smiled back at him. There was something very reminiscent of Aioros in Aioria’s smile. Something similar, but…different. Something more innocent. Looking at Aioria reminded Saga of that childish crush he used to have on Aioros when they were children. A mix of competitiveness and admiration and love and jealousy.

And yet, when he looked at Aioria, he felt none of the dark emotions he had always harbored towards Aioros. None of the jealousy and resentment. There was only the memory of that childhood freedom he’d once had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	2. Chapter 2

Through the next few days he helped Aioria make his way around the house, got him a cane, and mostly just helped him get used to life without sight. After he’d gotten used to it, Aioria didn’t have that much problem doing things on his own, given his seventh sense and skill in feeling his surroundings. As long as everything stayed in it’s place, he didn’t have much trouble.

Still, Saga enjoyed going to his residence and doing some simple things for him, like washing the dishes, or putting things away. Some days, he ordered the Gemini servants to put the usual meals for him and Kanon in a basket, and he would go have dinner with Aioria at Leo. Just as he did today.

“Ah, Saga, you really didn’t have to,” said Aioria when he opened the door.

“Hmmm? You can’t even see what I brought,” said Saga, coming inside and closing the door behind him.

Aioria laughed and made his way to the kitchen using the cane. “You have been bringing dinner all week at this same time. I can guess why you came,” he said. “I feel like I’m imposing on your good will.”

Saga shook his head as he took out the contents of the basket. “It’s no bother at all,” he said. “I enjoy coming here. It’s nice to not be alone.”

“Oh, right. Kanon had to stay in the underworld, right?” asked Aioria, pulling out plates and glasses to set on the table.

Saga took a deep breath. He wanted to say yes, but of course Kanon hadn’t had to stay in the underworld any more than anyone else. He had _chosen_ to remain in the underworld with Rhadamanthys.

“He’ll probably come back in a while. He always goes off somewhere and comes back after he tires of whatever new thing he was chasing,” he said, trying to convince himself that it was true.

“You two are so different,” said Aioria. “Oh, Shura came and gave me some wine. We should try it. It’s in a box near the fridge but I don’t remember…”

Saga looked around, and noticed a big cardboard box on a corner near the fridge. He crouched down to open it.

The phone rang on the next room and Aioria went to get it. “That must be Aioros,” he said. He keeps calling every three hours or so. He’ll probably start dropping by when he can finally walk again.”

Saga opened the box and found it was full of at least twenty bottles of wine. He pulled a couple bottles out of the box. He could hear Aioria’s voice from the other side of the room.

“Yes, I’m fine Aioros. Saga just arrived. I can’t talk now, we’re going to have dinner. No, we don’t need anything,” he said, and hung up.

“He’s still worried?” asked Saga when Aioria came back to the kitchen.

Aioria sighed. “He is. It feels like he’s always worried since I came back to Leo. Now I realize how annoying I was being when he left for Sagittarius,” he said. “Always checking on him, always stalking him. I feel dumb now.”

Saga smiled and opened the bottle of wine. “You both are just the same,” he said with a slight laugh. “Wanting to be independent, but worrying so much. I remember how much you fussed about Aioros when he came back.”

Aioria rubbed at his temple. “Probably twice as much as he’s doing now, I suppose.”

They set down to eat in silence for a while, until Saga couldn’t help himself.

“Why did Shura bring you a box full of wine bottles?” asked Saga.

Aioria choked on the wine he was drinking and covered his face to cough. Despite the fact that every part of him was still deathly white, Saga could see a hint of a blush on his cheeks.

“He didn’t bring them to me,” said Aioria and laughed. “He just beat Camus at poker and won like, three or four of those boxes but he doesn’t want Aioros to find out he played against Camus so he just gave them away to everyone that wanted them. I figured it couldn’t hurt to have a bunch of wine around.”

Saga frowned and refilled both their wine glasses. “Why doesn’t Aioros want him to play against Camus?”

“They always end up fighting. Over anything at all. Like, actually fighting with their fists. I don’t know, they just get really aggressive and competitive with each other for some reason,” said Aioria. “I once was at one of their poker games and I kid you not, they started fighting over opera singers.”

“What?”

“Seriously. Shura just grabbed a bottle and bashed Camus in the face with it,” said Aioria, shrugging. “I have no idea what set them off, but I got out of there winning a vanilla cake and five free entrance coupons to a petting zoo.”

Saga laughed, shaking his head. “I heard about the poker games, but I never knew they got so intense,” he said.

“Apparently that was one of the mild ones,” said Aioria.

They toasted to bad poker games. Then they went on to dessert, and kept toasting. To worrisome siblings, to being alive again, to Shura for providing them with free wine…

Before either could realize it, hours had passed and the Sun had long since set. But it seemed as if time had barely passed for them. They moved on to keep talking and drinking in the living room, and Saga had to help Aioria walk to the couch and sit down. He pushed a few of Aioria’s white curls away from his white face. He looked strangely young like this. As if he was terribly old and terribly young at the same time. A look that intrigued Saga.

“You’ll need a haircut soon” said Saga to justify how his fingers lingered in Aioria’s hair.

Aioria nodded. “I can feel it growing,” said Aioria, pushing it back, but the curls kept falling over his blind eyes. Then he downed the rest of his wine and turned to Saga. “The way I look now…Am I disgusting?”

“What? No! Of course not,” said Saga “Aioria you haven’t changed at all. There is now some color to the ends of your hair and to your skin. You will recover very soon.”

“Thank you Saga,” said Aioria with an unsure smile, drawling out the words as the alcohol hit him fully. “I couldn’t stand to look at myself most of the time… I guess it’s a blessing that I can’t see how I’ve become”

Saga reached out to caress his hair, threading his fingers through the soft white curls. Aioria leaned into his touch.

“You’re beautiful,” whispered Saga.

Aioria closed his eyes and fell against him, falling asleep. Saga looked at him for a moment. He really was beautiful. He had never really stopped to think about it, his mind a divided battleground as it had been for so many years. But now he could appreciate so many things, like the way time had passed so calmly between them, or the way Aioria felt so warm leaning against him. He really was lovely in a way that he had never realized. Saga wondered how warm his lips would be.

He let his fingertips trail down the side of Aioria’s face, before he stood up and carried him to bed, making sure he was comfortable before leaving for Gemini. As soon as he stepped out of Leo, he found Shura walking towards him.

“Hey, Aioros sent you?” asked Saga.

Shura rolled his eyes. “He won’t go to sleep until I came to check on him.”

“He’s asleep. We were drinking a bit and it just hit him,” said Saga. “That was some good wine you won on that poker game.”

Shura blushed a little and looked away. “Ah, that. Don’t tell Aioros, he hates it when Camus and I end up fighting,” he said, then smiled a bit at the thought of Aioros. “But…thank you for helping Aioria around. They’re both so proud, always say they don’t need help but end up worrying about others.”

Saga smiled at that. “I know, I know,” he said

He said good bye to Shura and went back to Gemini. The wind hissed all around, rustling through the trees and highlighting the silence of the night as he made his way back.

His footsteps echoed in the high vaulted ceilings of the rooms of the Gemini house. He went straight to his room, already too tired and too buzzed to do much of anything other than taking off his clothes and going to bed.

He sat down on the bed for a moment and looked at Kanon’s empty bed standing next to his. Since Kanon was gone the servants had taken away the blankets and the mattress, leaving only the stone slab resembling an altar. It was a hard thing to get used to, sleeping alone. Even when he had locked Kanon in Cape Sunion, there was always another presence always with him. A sense of someone else, different from him, whispering in his head.

Now, there was only silence, and the whisper of the wind outside.

He laid down to sleep.

He dreamed of walking around Leo, looking for Aioria. He found him dozing in the couch. The house around them shifted to Gemini, with Aioria lying on the settee that Kanon used to nap on. Outside the large windows of the room, the great waterfalls of the underworld kept falling up and down. His dreamworld changing and shifting, piecing together memories from here and there. From the past and the present. Weaving together his terrors and his desires.

Saga closed the windows, already used to the strange images of his unstable mind and tried to calm himself down, hoping that would keep the dream stable enough.

He went to sit down next to Aioria, letting him lean down against him and carding his fingers through his hair. They felt just as soft as the real one would have felt. Even the warmth of his skin was the same, as well as the rhythm of his breath. Saga lifted Aioria’s face up by his chin. There it was, that same innocent look of relaxation that he’d seen on the real one when he’d laid him down to sleep.

Outside, the waterfalls fell silent, and there came the soft sound of the wind again, howling as it rushed through Saga’s mindscape.

Saga leaned down to kiss Aioria’s lips. They felt soft and warm. Softer and warmer than Kanon’s lips had felt so long ago, the last time they’d kissed. Aioria’s lips parted and Saga kissed him again, wanting to feel the heat of his wet mouth, the taste of his tongue.

He pushed him down on the settee, Aioria’s body soft and relaxed under his touch.

The wind hit against the windows. The sound of rain joined it, water hitting against the windows too.

The room changed. They were now on his bedroom, on Kanon’s bare stone bed. Aioria gasped for breath, blind eyes still closed, his body naked and ready under Saga.

Rain kept falling outside.

Saga kissed down Aioria’s bare chest, down to kiss over his racing heart. Aioria moaned, pulling him closer with his legs, until Saga started pressing against his entrance. He licked his lips. Rarely did he have such delightful dreams, and he sank into Aioria’s body at once.

Aioria moaned, eyes still closed yet panting for breath.

“Only for tonight,” whispered Saga against Aioria’s ear, thrusting into his body. The tight heat of his body made him gasp. It had been so long since he’d experienced that pleasure that he let himself rut away thinking only of how good it felt. He grasped Aioria’s hips harder, his eyes rolling back as he felt his orgasm approaching, Aioria’s soft moans and gasps only spurring him closer. Outside, the rain turned into a storm.

Then he felt Aioria reach out to hold his shoulders, crying out in pleasure.

“Ah, Saga, so good,” said Aioria, but his voice trembled at the end, turning deeper. “You’ve always been so good,” said Kanon’s voice.

Saga looked down and found himself thrusting into Kanon’s body. His twin smirked up at him, his face flushed the same as it had been when they’d had sex last time. Kanon reached up to grab at Saga’s hair and pull.

“When we had so much fun, why did you have to hurt me? See, doesn’t my body feel good? But you had to hurt me… You had to make me bleed,” said Kanon, tightening around Saga.

“Kanon, I never…,” whispered Saga, his stomach turning.

Kanon pulled on his hair. “Liar,” he said, his voice distorting, his hair turning gray. “You loved to hear him scream in pain. Wasn’t it much better than hearing him cry of pleasure?” said the darkness that had possessed him.

Saga’s own eyes, tinted red, stared up at him.

“I didn’t! I hated it! You made me do it!” yelled Saga.

His darkness embraced him. “Liar! Liar! We both loved it!”

Thunder struck the roof of the Gemini house and Saga woke up with a scream.

Outside, the wind continued to whisper through the trees in the quiet night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	3. Chapter 3

Saga messaged Shura that morning, telling him that he wouldn’t be able to go help Aioria that day, lying about how he had things to do, but he would be back the next day.

In truth, he couldn’t bear to look Aioria to his face after what he had dreamt about. In fact, he could barely endure looking at his own face in the mirror. He felt dirty and was disgusted with himself.

After a very late breakfast, he went to the Gemini bath and washed himself thoroughly. Then he went to rest at one of the great pools of hot water. He hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before, and had spent the rest of the night tossing and turning in bed, afraid of what he might encounter if he fell asleep again.

His nightmares had only worsened ever since Kanon had left Gemini, and now they only tortured him night after night. He was starting to think that perhaps he needed to just go see Kanon and try to fix their relationship. Apologize somehow.

He felt stupid about thinking of apologizing to Kanon. How could he ever apologize to him for all the suffering that his darkness had inflicted on him? After all, it had been his own body, flesh and blood, the one that had hurt him time and again.

“Saga?” called out Aioria’s voice from the entrance to the pool.

Saga felt his throat dry and he looked around desperately for a towel.

“Aioria?” he asked, and sunk lower into the pool when he couldn’t find anything he could use to cover himself.

“Hi, sorry. The servants said that you were here,” said Aioria, making his way forward using the cane. In his other hand he carried a bag that looked to be from a clothing store.

“Yeah, but I’m…not quite decent,” said Saga, wanting to combust on the spot. When he looked at Aioria he couldn’t help remembering how he had taken advantage of the memory of him during last night, and he could feel his body responding already.

Aioria laughed, halting when he found the edge of the pool with his cane. “I guess it’s good that I’m blind, uh?” he said, pointing to his eyes. “Sorry, I just need your help with something real quick. Aioria gave me this tuxedo to use at Milo and Camus’ wedding, but I don’t trust him.”

He pulled a shirt and jacket from the bag and extended them.

“He always chooses ridiculous clothes for me and I have a feeling he’s going to try and take advantage of the fact that I can’t see this,” he said, flipping the clothes around for Saga to see.

Saga realized that Aioria noticed nothing about his uneasiness and he breathed a sigh of relief. After all, it was all in his head. The dream, the lust, it was all invisible to the world. He stood up in the pool, the water reaching to his waist, droplets falling down the tips of his hair.

“They look fine to me- wait. No, let me see the jacket sleeve,” said Saga, reaching for it. He found a trail of yellow cat paws going up the sleeves. Then he looked at the shirt and saw the same paws embroidered in the chest pocket. A soft laugh escaped his lips. “They have cat paws embroidered.”

Aioria huffed and stuffed the clothes into the bag. “I knew it! He always does the same thing. I swear, he thinks I’m still ten years old!”

Saga tilted his head, looking up at Aioria. “He’s only been back for less than a year. It’ll take him much longer to get used to all the time that has passed.”

“No. You don’t know him, he’ll never change!” said Aioria.

Saga thought that was a funny thing to say from someone that saga had known even as a baby. Although, when he thought back to the way that things had been when they’d been children…he didn’t really know Aioros that much back then, either.

Battles, training, saint duties and the competition over becoming the Pope. That was the only side of Aioros he had seen back then, for most of the time. Only a few times had he seen him caring for Aioria.

Saga remembered one time, when he’d been running errands for his master early before daw. Back then he had yet to even secure his position to compete for the Gemini cloth, so he worked hard at every single mission and order given by his master. And so had Aioros, working from his side for the Sagittarius cloth. But that day he had found him outside the door of one of the servant girls who worked at the sanctuary, carrying the baby Aioria in his arms.

 _“Please, I_ _’ll be back by noon and nobody else can feed him. The others already have no milk left,_ _”_ Aioros had said to her.

_“I can_ _’t feed him anymore! I_ _’m always taking care of him for you!_ _”_

_“I know, I_ _’m sorry. But please! There is no one else to feed him and I_ _…I don_ _’t have anything to feed him_ _…”_

The woman had regarded him for a moment, an expression of annoyance in her face. _“Fine. But you_ _’ll need to find another milk maid. Soon I won_ _’t have any milk either. Go look for Iris, near Rodorrio. She had a baby a few days ago._ _”_

 _“Thank you! Thank you!_ _”_ Aioros had said, giving her the baby.

Saga hadn’t noticed it then, but thinking back on that early morning…They really had been so very small, with such a heavy weight on their shoulders, and he felt a tinge of compassion for the children they had been.

“Maybe he won’t,” said Saga, a slight smile pulling at the corners of his lips. “I’ll help you get another suit for the wedding later. There’s still time.”

Aioria shook his head for a moment, then then huffed. “Thank you Saga. I guess I just don’t understand why he-,” he took a step to the side, turning and trying to speak to where he heard Saga’s voice, but he slipped on the water and fell down into the pool.

Saga reached out to hold him and stop his fall, but Aioria ended up crashing over him and they both sank down into the pool. Saga managed to recover his footing and pulled Aioria up to stand on his feet. Aioria clung to him, coughing out water in Saga’s arms. His wet curls hung all over his blind eyes and droplets of water made his lips shine.

Saga swallowed, noticing that his problem with Aioria had suddenly gotten a lot bigger and became more of an annoyance. He pushed Aioria towards the edge of the pool, and pulled his arms away from his shoulders, all the way trying to keep his hips away from him.

“Be more careful! You shouldn’t have been standing so close to the edge!” he said, putting Aioria’s hands on the edge of the pool.

Aioria lowered his head. “Sorry, I didn’t think…Sorry, I’ll leave.”

Saga noticed how sad Aioria was with his reaction, and realized his voice had sounded much harsher than he’d intended. He held on to Aioria’s shoulder. “Sorry I yelled, I just…got worried for a moment.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ve been imposing on you all the time, even now when you said you were busy…”

Saga sighed. “It’s not that. I wasn’t really busy, I just…needed some time to think,” said Saga, wondering how to fix this all. “I’ve been, uh…worried about Kanon you see. About him being alone with Rhadamanthys in the underworld…I guess I’m no better than Aioros in that respect.”

He scoffed out a laugh, thinking just how much worse he was than Aioros in every respect.

“Do you think Rhadamanthys might hurt him? Athena said…well, she didn’t say much, I guess, other than that he would be fine.”

Saga nodded. “She said that, but I really can’t help worrying. It’s been all I can think about…I think…I’ll pay him a visit…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	4. Chapter 4

Since Kanon had leave to go in and out of the Underworld, and Saga’s soul was similar and close enough to Kanon’s for him to cross the underworld gate without alerting anyone. Some souls and guards under Rhadamanthys’ orders stared at him, but none dared to stop him or even talk to him. As he crossed through, Saga heard the name Kanon being whispered behind his back, and he smirked. The idiots thought he was Kanon. For once being twins was turning out to be an advantage.

The castle that Athena had given Rhadamanthys loomed in the distance, and while he expected to find even more security the closer he got, the place actually became more deserted as he approached. When he stood at the great double doors of the entrance there was not a single guard in sight. Saga wondered what was going on and what he was supposed to do no. He could open the door, but…

He knocked on it instead.

He felt very dumb doing that, but he couldn’t think of anything else to do without being rude. And if he wanted to have this conversation with Kanon, he was going to have to go about every step very carefully.

The door opened from the other side, and a sleepy Kanon yawned at him, rubbing at his eyes.

“I thought I was wrong when I felt your cosmos,” said his brother. He was wearing what looked to be like bed clothes.

Saga swallowed around the sudden knot on his throat. “I came…to see how you were doing…,” he said, looking away.

Kanon narrowed his eyes at him, then sighed. “And you didn’t even bring a cake, or any housewarming present at all. You’re so inconsiderate,” he said, stepping aside to let Saga in.

“I was expecting the underworld to be a more…unwelcoming place,” said Saga.

Kanon led through great halls and up a narrow flight of stairs until they reached a simple door that he opened to reveal what looked like an apartment.

“That’s because I bet everyone thought you were me. Otherwise you would have found yourself very unwelcome,” said Kanon.

“They did,” said Saga, looking around at the living room, then at the kitchen nearby. All in all, it seemed very much like the residences the others had built in their houses.

“Wait here, I’m gonna shower and change. You should have told me you were coming. Phones still work here, you know?” said Kanon, and disappeared through a door to the side.

Saga grunted in annoyance but said nothing more and continued to examine the apartment. It seemed so dumb to have such a grand castle and yet only use this small place as living quarters. The same way that building the residences had seemed to him in the first place. But as he walked into the kitchen and saw the tiny coffee maker, he had to admit that the overall feeling was much more…cozy. He felt better in that space than he felt in the grand halls of the house of Gemini.

He looked for the coffee and set about making some coffee, since he knew it was the first thing that Kanon looked for in the mornings. As the scent of coffee filled the apartment, he wondered if this had been what Kanon had wanted when they fought over building the residence at Gemini.

Saga gritted his teeth when he thought back to how inflexible he had been with him. Would it have mattered in the end, to just build this small place for them? Would it have made daily life between them easier? Would Kanon have stayed with him then?

The door opened, and Rhadamanthys walked inside. Saga didn’t bother turning to look at him. Just sensing his cosmos was annoying enough to him, he didn’t want to fake any sort of niceties between them.

“I’m back,” said Rhadamathys. He sounded tired. “Dealing with those bastards took longer than I thought.”

Saga lifted an eyebrow and grunted noncommittally. He grabbed two mugs and filled them. He didn’t bother getting one for Rhadamanthys, and started drinking from his own as he stared out the kitchen window. The dark expanse of the underworld with its gray and purple skies disgusted him. How could Kanon choose to remain in this horrible place instead of being with him in the sanctuary?

“Are you still angry?” asked Rhadamanthys behind him. He reached around Saga for the mug on the table.

“That’s not for you,” grunted Saga, sliding the mug to the other side of the table. So Kanon had been angry with Rhadamanthys? He knew those two couldn’t really have a relationship, and thinking about how they must likely be fighting all the time filled him with a smug joy.

Rhadamanthys then wrapped his arms around Saga’s waist, pulling him to hold him against his chest. Saga felt his blood run cold.

“Seriously? You’re still angry Kanon?” asked Rhadamanthys, his face next to Saga’s head, so close that he felt his breath tickling his ear. “I’m sorry, but I can’t go four rounds when I have to get up early the next day. If you wanted us to do it so many times, we should have started earlier!”

Saga felt his stomach twist in disgust and he tried to move away from him. “You bastard,” he muttered.

Rhadamanthys gave a low laugh and grabbed Saga’s hips, pulling him so that he was rubbing him against his groin.

“But you’re lucky, now I’m free and I can do you all day,” he said, pushing Saga and bending him over the kitchen table.

“You scum! I’m not Kanon!” yelled Saga, and pushed him off, then he threw the coffee mug at his face.

Rhadamanthys let him go and stumbled backwards, but Saga was furious. He turned around and punched him in the face.

“How dare you treat my brother like this!” he yelled.

Kanon ran to him and pulled his twin off Rhadamanthys. “Stop! Stop! Don’t hurt him!” he cried. Rhadamanthys tripped on his own feet, shocked to see them both and fell down on the floor. He looked up to look at the twins like they were some strange mirage. Then he felt rage burning up in his chest.

“What are you doing here?!” he yelled, pointing at Saga, his dark cosmos burning with anger.

Kanon then moved to stand between the both of them. “He came to visit!” said Kanon, then he couldn’t stop himself from bursting out laughing. “It’s not his fault you can’t keep your hands off me!”

“Kanon!” cried Saga and Rhadamanthys at once.

Kanon laughed even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	5. Chapter 5

After a while both Rhadamanthys and Saga managed to calm down, and Kanon sat them both down at the living room couches without them going at each other’s throat.

But whenever Kanon looked at them, he couldn’t stop laughing.

“Kanon, that’s enough!” hissed Saga when Kanon laughed at his face for the fourth time within the hour.

Kanon wiped a tear from his eye. “Sorry, sorry, it was just hilarious! I was going to say something, but then he _bent you over the table!_ _”_

Saga growled, then glared furiously at Rhadamanthys, who was rubbing at his temple, as if he was fighting off a headache. And losing.

Kanon went back to the kitchen and brought coffee for all of them, then he sat down next to Saga.

“You could have just said that you weren’t Kanon when I started talking to you,” muttered Rhadamanthys.

Saga ignored him and turned to look only at his brother. “I am not speaking to that beast, Kanon.”

Kanon laughed so hard, he almost spilled his coffee all over himself. He left his mug on the coffee table and wiped another tear of laughter from the corner of his eye.

“When I said that he was my boyfriend, I didn’t mean that we just held hands and talked about our feelings, Saga. I meant that we had sex. Like, a lot of sex,” he said.

Saga rolled his eyes at him. “I see you’re still as crass as always.”

Rhadamanthys growled. “And have you always been such a stuck up jackass?” he asked.

“Kanon, why must you stay with this rabid dog?” said Saga, pointedly ignoring Rhadamanthys’ outburst. “Just come back to Gemini. Athena said that you could come back whenever you wanted.”

Kanon sighed. “Don’t be mean. And I will go back, from time to time. Saga come on, don’t act like you’re rescuing Persephone from the underworld,” he said. He reached out to hold Saga’s hand, rubbing his thumb over Saga’s pale fingers. “I miss you too, but…It’s better this way.”

Saga felt his heart jump in terror, fearing that this was final. That Kanon really was never coming back. That they- as two parts of a whole- would never be able to go back.

“That’s ridiculous! Why?! What can he give you that you cannot find at the sanctuary?!” he demanded.

“I can think of one thing,” said Rhadamanthys with a smirk, picking up his mug.

Kanon stuck out his tongue at him. “He was very good at that too, but yeah, you’ve become a bit better now that you’ve had some practice.”

Rhadamanthys choked on his coffee and Saga felt his entire face go red.

“What are you saying?!” he hissed. “Don’t tell him things like that!”

“Well, my husband has to know everything about me, right?” said Kanon

“Husband?!” cried Saga.

Rhada finished coughing and set his mug back on the table, trying to calm himself down. “We’ve been…talking about it,” he said.

“You…How can you think that you’re good enough to marry him, you disgusting Hades dog?” said Saga.

Kanon tapped Saga’s cheek with the tip of his finger, forcing him to look away from Rhadamanthys. “You stop that. I’m serious,” then he winked at him. “Are you angry that when I’m married I won’t be able to have sex with you?”

“You’re not supposed to have sex with anyone else now!” yelled Rhadamanthys

“Really? Not even if you’re invited too?”

Saga gasped. “Don’t joke about that!” he said.

Kanon laughed and captured his lips in a surprise kiss. Saga couldn’t resist and he started relaxing against him, opening his mouth when Kanon’s tongue seeked entrance. His eyelids fluttered open when he felt Kanon’s hands around his waist, and he noticed that Kanon was looking straight at Rhadamanthys while kissing him.

Jealousy flared up in Saga’s chest, but even then he still couldn’t resist when Kanon pushed him down on the couch. The feeling of his hands on his skin, of having him so close against him, it amplified all his senses, making even a simple kiss an irresistible temptation.

Kanon pulled away from him, leaving him panting and dazzled.

“Why don’t we have a parting gift? Do you think you could get along with Rhada for a day?” he asked with a mischievous tone.

But Saga saw in the dark shade of his eyes that this was indeed their last and most final parting.

“I suppose I could…,” he said, feeling his heart racing in his chest. “…Endure this beast.”

* * *

“I can’t believe you convinced me to do this,” complained Rhadamanthys, climbing on the bed with Kanon and Saga and taking off his clothes.

“This isn’t the craziest thing I’ve convinced you to do,” said Kanon, ruffling Rhadamanthys’ hair.

“It is. It really is,” said Rhadamanthys, roughly pulling Kanon against him and grabbing at his ass.

“Crazier than fighting Poseidon? Crazier than rebuilding the underworld?” said Kanon, tracing the contours of Rhadamanthys’ pectorals.

Saga couldn’t take it anymore and he pulled Kanon away from him, pushing him down on the bed under him.

“I thought this was my parting gift,” he said, and kissed Kanon roughly. The jealousy and grief burning in his chest flared, even though he could feel Kanon melting against his touch. The sensations on both of their bodies amplifying.

He kissed down Kanon’s chest, biting at a nipple to make him gasp and then kissing lower and lower until he reached the trail of hair at the lower part of his body.

“You’re so impatient now, when you were complaining all the way to the bed,” laughed Kanon.

Saga huffed, unwilling to accept that he would take the last of Kanon however he would offer it. Even like this. Instead of saying anything, he moved to take the head of Kanon’s dick into his mouth, sucking as he knew would get Kanon whining in pleasure. He kept taking him in deeper, down to the hilt. Kanon moaned in pleasure and reached out to grab Saga’s hair. Saga moaned around the dick in his mouth, feeling the echo of Kanon’s pleasure through his body.

Then he felt a pair of broad hands grab at his hips and spread his ass and he whimpered, then grunted in complaint when he felt Rhadamanthys’ fingers at his entrance. He pulled away from Kanon to look back at Rhadamanthys.

“Get your filthy hands off me!” he yelled.

Kanon pulled his face up by his hair. “You said you would behave,” he said with a warning tone.

Saga huffed and took Kanon back in his mouth, but his cheeks flushed in embarrassment when he heard Rhadamanthys chuckling behind him as he inserted a lubed finger into him.

“I like him more like this, quiet,” said Rhadamanthys, working him open.

Saga grabbed at the sheets so hard, they tore under his hands, until Kanon took his hand and gave him a bottle of lube.

“Let’s all enjoy each other,” he said, spreading his legs open further.

Saga got a hold of the bottle and focused on Kanon and not on the foreign feeling of Rhadamanthys at his back, pushing another finger in. He slicked his fingers with the lube and pressed one into Kanon, still sucking on him to make him moan.

“Are you putting on an act to not make him feel bad?” said Rhadamanthys, forcing a third finger into Saga and making him flinch.

“We all have our strengths. His is his mouth,” said Kanon with a smirk. “Don’t be jealous just because you suck at blow jobs.”

“I’m not jealous!”

Feeling a smug pride, Saga once more took Kanon down to the hilt and sucked him harder while his fingers looked for that spot inside him. Kanon whined, leaning down on the pillows behind him, his hands now both tangled among the soft locks of Saga’s hair.

He pushed another finger in, feeling Kanon easily opening up. He could feel him growing harder in his mouth and he moaned, letting himself relax, allowing himself to feel Kanon’s pleasure more fully. Suddenly, Rhadamanthys’ hands at his back didn’t feel as foreign, but sent shivers of anticipation down his spine.

Kanon cried out, jolting under Saga and pushing harshly into his mouth. Saga moaned around him, opening his throat to allow him to push deeper.

Rhadamanthys grew impatient, pulled his fingers out of Saga and started pressing the tip against his entrance. Saga pulled away from Kanon when he felt Rhadamanthys breach his entrance.

“Ah! You’re too big!” he cried.

Rhadamanthys grabbed his hips even harder and pushed deeper. “Is that a compliment?” he asked with a mocking tone.

Saga cried, his head falling against Kanon’s stomach. Rhadamanthys thrusted into him down to the hilt and both Saga and Kanon flinched and cried out.

“Slower!” said Kanon, looking at Rhadamanthys with a look of discomfort. “You’re his first after me. Go slower!”

Rhadamanthys frowned. “What…is going on with you two?” he asked.

Kanon panted, trying to recover his breath. “When we’re this close, we feel what the other feels. It’s like…echoes of sensations. The feel of everything is magnified.”

Rhadamanthys fell quiet for a moment. “…I see,” he said, and stopped moving to let Saga adjust to the intrusion.

Kanon grabbed Saga’s hair and pulled his face up to look at him. “Ah, you look so cute like this, who would have thought you could make such an adorable face…”

“I-Idiot,” panted Saga. “How can you like him? He’s a savage.”

“Try relaxing for once.”

Rhadamanthys pulled out slowly, then thrusted back inside slowly. Saga so tight around him that had he been a man with less self control, he would have just pushed him down into the bed and thrusted away seeking only his pleasure.

“I’ll give him that he’s pretty tight,” said Rhadamanthys, buried to the hilt into him again.

Saga gasped when he felt Rhadamanthys brush against the spot deep inside him.

“It feels better now, uh?” said Kanon, caressing his hair.

Saga moaned against Kanon’s skin, trying to relax but Rhadamanthys was so much thicker and larger than Kanon, who was the only man that Saga had ever felt like this. He felt dizzy, and barely reacted when he felt Kanon shift under him.

“You want to get in me? Saga?” asked Kanon, grabbing a hold of Saga’s dick and stroking him a few times, making him moan.

“Yes, Kanon please,” he begged.

Kanon positioned himself, pressing Saga’s dick into him. Both gasped at the feeling but Saga had little energy to move.

“Rhada, go faster, please, I need…,” begged Kanon.

Rhadamanthys grabbed Saga’s hips once more, this time in a softer hold, thrusting at the angle that he knew Kanon liked when he took him from behind. Saga arched against him and trusted into Kanon, moaning in pleasure.

“H-How?” he tried to ask, but Rhadamanthys kept thrusting into him even faster, and he lost himself in the sensations from his front and back.

“Your bodies are the same,” said Rhadamanthys. “Did you really think I was no good at this? I might end up having you climbing into me while I sleep too!”

“How mean!” said Kanon with a laugh. “I only did that once!”

Saga held on to Kanon’s thighs, spreading them to push deeper, but he could barely focus with the pace Rhadamanthys was setting behind him. He let his head fall back against the judge’s shoulder, moaning. Rhadamanthys bit his neck, and the feeling of his sharp fangs against his skin along with him hitting his spot with every thrust quickly pushed him towards the edge.

“Ah, you beast!” moaned Saga when he felt him bite down on his shoulder.

“And yet you’re enjoying it so much,” laughed Rhadamanthys, giving a harder thrust that made him moan louder.

Kanon's laughed in echo. “Saga, kiss me,” he said.

Saga looked down at his twin as he was arching towards him, legs spread, taking him completely. The lewdest image he could imagine. Saga lowered himself down, embracing him, kissing him open mouthed. Kanon threw his arms around his neck, tangling his fingers in Saga’s hair. Behind him, Rhadamanthys thrusted into him harder, faster, making both of them cry out. The pleasure rising, the sensations of both echoing, blending as their souls reached towards one another.

“Come with me,” said Kanon against Saga’s ear, and Saga couldn’t hold back anymore. He clung at Kanon harder, crying out against his neck as he emptied himself into him and felt the other spilling against him. They collapsed against one another and Saga’s mind blacked out.

Saga came to when he heard the whisper of voices beside him. Kanon’s voice. He tried to open his eyes but found he didn’t have enough energy to do even that.

“You don’t usually last this much,” his brother said, still sounding out of breath.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Rhadamanthys.

“Dummy. I meant…Did you really not like it?”

“I fucked you both out of your minds. It was nice.”

“Rhada…”

“I liked it. It just wasn’t enough.”

Kanon laughed softly. “We weren’t enough? I thought I was the insatiable one. Come here, I’ll make sure it’s enough for you.”

“Kanon you blacked out,” said Rhadamanthys. “Get some rest.”

“Come here, you’re still hard, it would be a waste. And you still owe me some rounds.”

Rhadamanthys grunted and climbed on the bed again. Saga gritted his teeth. So it hadn’t been enough for Rhadamanthys to come? He was trying to humiliate him even like this? He clenched his fists, testing how much energy he still had, hoping it would be enough to break his fucking nose.

“Hngh, you really are very big,” gasped Kanon. “Fuck, it’s so great. Ah, move, hurry...”

“Kanon…,” breathed Rhadamanthys.

Saga managed to open his eyes a little and saw Rhadamanthys thrusting into Kanon. Still as hard as he’d been when he’d driven Saga to climax. Kanon embraced him, pulling him closer with his legs.

Saga looked up towards Rhadamanthys’ face, noticing how focused he was on Kanon’s expression of pleasure, adjusting his angle to hit the spot inside him with every thrust. There was an entranced look in his eyes as he looked down at Kanon and a hunger in the way he kissed Kanon. As if he couldn’t get enough of him.

“Rhada, I’m so close,” panted Kanon.

Rhadamanthys growled deep in his throat, going faster, burying his face against Kanon’s neck, his rhythm slipping as he started losing control. Kanon called out for him, Rhadamanthys’s name falling from his lips like a prayer until he arched and came, spilling between them and collapsing back on the bed.

Rhadamanthys thrusted a few more times, cumming inside Kanon, breathing ragged. But he didn’t collapse over Kanon, instead pulling out and setting Kanon’s legs down on the bed, then tracing his moist lips with his thumb and placing a soft kiss on them.

Saga closed his eyes, frozen in place. The jealousy and anger in his chest had faded, frozen over by an icy feeling of loss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	6. Chapter 6

After a shower, Saga dragged himself back to the Gemini house defeated. As he crossed the doors, it felt even more grand and haunting than he ever realized. As soon as he was there, he dismissed the servants and forbid them from entering the house, saying that he would no longer need their help.

If Kanon wasn’t going to come back, he didn’t want anyone else around.

After they left, he stood in the middle of the dining hall, seeing the golden light of the dusk spill through the windows. The place really did feel too big for him. The world, itself, seemed too big for him. Once more, he felt so very small. Small, and alone in a way he hadn’t felt ever before, not even before he was born.

His phone vibrated in his pocked, and he took it out to find a message from Aioria.

_[How did things go with Kanon?]_

Saga scoffed. Aioria was always so hurtful in his loving innocence. Just like he remembered Aioros being when they were children. They really were too similar. Annoyingly similar.

 _[He_ _’s fine. They_ _’re both fine]_ he answered and turned off his phone.

Then he went to bed, to lie down next to an empty stone bed, and cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	7. Chapter 7

Saga tossed and turned throughout the night, drifting in and out of nightmares and dreams and never getting any rest at all.

He dreamt of being lost in a forest, looking for Kanon and never finding him. He dreamt of being trapped in a room full of mirrors with only his own reflection staring back at him again and again.

And then he heard someone calling his name.

“Saga! Saga!” said the voice, and Saga thought it was the phantom of Aioros, coming back again for revenge, the way he had dreamed he would through so many years.

“Saga wake up!” the voice seemed higher pitched, younger, and suddenly Saga opened his eyes to find Aioria’s face above him. He gave a sharp intake of breath, frozen by the intense light Aioria’s white silhouette had in the dark of the predawn hours.

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” said Aioria. “You were having nightmares and I couldn’t wake you up.”

“A-A…Aioria what the hell are you doing here?” he asked, vaguely wondering if this was yet another one of his nightmares.

“Please let me stay here. It’s my birthday and those three are going to want to throw me a party!”

“What?”

“My birthday party! The one that they always throw for me to humiliate me!”

Saga blinked a couple times before daring to speak. “Aioria I hate to remind you this, but I spent most of our teenage years possessed by an evil entity and taking over the sanctuary. I don’t remember them doing this at all”

Aioria stepped away from his bed and started pacing from one end of the bedroom to the other. “Every year they throw me a party and end up giving me humiliating gifts and playing games just to make fun of me! I hate it! Let me hide here!”

Saga rubbed at his temple. His headache was quickly becoming a migrane. But he really didn’t have the heart to refuse.

“Yes, you can hide in Gemini,” he said and rubbed at his face.

“So, things with Kanon didn’t go well?” asked Aioria, sitting down on Kanon’s bare stone bed.

“He’s fine,” said Saga, looking out the window into the pale sunlight signaling the incoming dawn. “Didn’t I send you a message?”

Aioria gave him a sad smile. “You were calling out to him in your sleep.”

Saga covered his mouth, a wave of cold dread washing over him. “I…That…,” he mumbled.

“It must be so sad…If Aioros hadn’t been able to come back…I don’t know what I would have done. I kept losing chance after chance to see him, everything seemed hopeless. Like I was mourning him again and again. I think, that must be…similar to what you’re feeling now…”

Saga’s racing heart slowed down and he found he could breathe again.

Mourning…Loss…

“It does…feel a bit like that,” he said.

The guests bell in Gemini rang, the sound echoing through the different empty halls.

“They’re here!” hissed Aioria, jumping off Kanon’s bed and running to hide under the covers of Saga’s bed. “Hide me! Don’t let them find me!”

Saga jumped out of his bed, stumbling backwards away from him. “Aioria! Don’t just-!” he started, but the bell rang again. “I’m going to kill them,” he muttered, and went to the guests hallway.

There, he found Shura and Deathmask, with Aphrodite standing between them holding a small cake.

“Hi, Saga! Good morning!” said Aphrodite with a smile so sweet, it made Saga nauseous.

“What do you want?” muttered Saga. He found he could tolerate Aioria’s presence, but having to deal with these three really got on his nerves after all that had happened in the last few hours.

“Where’s Aioria?” asked Deathmask.

“I don’t know. Why would he be here?” lied Saga

Deathmask laughed. “Don’t lie, I felt his cosmos cross through Cancer.”

“And he kept going. I don’t know where he is,” said Saga, rolling his eyes. “Cross through if you want to keep looking for him, but I don’t have time for your games.”

Aphrodite smiled and took a couple steps towards him. “I see. Well, I guess we’ll keep looking for him. Could we leave his birthday cake with you? It might get ruined if we take it with us,” he said, holding out the cake for him.

Saga went back to his bedroom, where Aioria waited under the covers of the bed. “They’re gone,” he said.

Aioria’s white face emerged from within the blankets. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah. They said they would be waiting in Sagittarius, and I felt their cosmos leave.”

Aioria let go of the breath he was holding and pulled the covers off. “Wow, I’ll hide here from them more often. They don’t usually give up so easily,” he said, pulling out his cane.

“They left a cake. Come, we can sit in the sunroom,” said Saga, holding his arm to lead him

Aioria’s steps were unsure in this new environment, so they walked slower. Saga thought about calling the servants for a moment, but then he remembered that he had dismissed them the day before. But he remembered that there was a small fridge near the dining room.

“I don’t have any coffee right now. Is milk ok,” he asked distractedly. He still felt off and a bit confused. As he made his way to the dining room, he shook his head, trying to wake himself up completely. He caught his reflection in one of the decorative mirrors, and was thankful that Aioria couldn’t see how gaunt he looked.

“Anything is ok, thanks,” said Aioria. “How does it look like?”

“The cake?” asked Saga, coming back into the sunroom holding a couple of glasses and the only liter of milk he found in the fridge. He sat down next to Aioria and looked down at the cake. “It has a picture of a cat and says Happy Purrrthday”

Aioria laughed and shook his head. “Ok, that’s got to be the most harmless of their jokes. Maybe they’re holding back because of Aioros.

“You want me to call him? You could just stay here and slice the cake,” said Saga.

“No, if they’re waiting at Sagittarius then he’s probably excited about the party too. He doesn’t know what their parties are like. And besides…he still can’t eat anything that isn’t meat. Despite everything, his recovery has been…very slow,” said Aioria, slumping a little at the thought.

“I see. Well, you’re looking much better already. I’m sure he’ll recover shortly after you do,” he said, cutting a slice of the cake. “There’s already some color to your hair and skin. Very pale and soft, but it’s better than before.”

Aioria nodded. “I can see lights and colors and some shapes now,” he said.

Saga put the slice of cake on the plate and took his hand to give him the plate. Then he squeezed his hand. “Once you recover, we’ll throw you another party. A nice one this time,” he said.

A soft pale pink colored Aioria’s cheeks and Saga looked away, before he allowed himself to have any other thoughts about him. He let go and moved to fill the glasses. He thought for a moment about serving himself a slice of the cake too, but his stomach was already too upset, and all that sugar sounded like a bad idea. He took a sip of milk, and laid back.

“It’s actually really good,” said Aioria, eating very quickly.

“Yeah, I know,” lied Saga. He really wasn’t very fond of cake at all. What he did want was some coffee. His eyelids were falling closed even with the bright light of the morning coming from all around them.

Aioria set the plate on the table and coughed. Saga noticed a look of pain in his face.

“Aioria? Are you ok?” he asked, concerned.

“I’m fine, I just…feel a little weird. Isn’t it hot? What time is it?” he asked. There was now a flush to his skin, very bright against his pale tone.

“You want to drink something? Do you feel sick?”

Aioria shook his head and took a few deep breaths, leaning back against the couch. “I’m just feeling a little dizzy. A little strange…”

Saga moved to sit next to him and touched his forehead and the side of his face. He felt very hot, but he wasn’t sure if it was a fever. He looked around, and his eyes landed on the cake. He thought back to Aphrodite’s words. _“If he starts being annoying, bring him to Sagittarius_ _”_. Everything fell into place in his head.

“Fuck. Those bastards…,” growled Saga. “It was poisoned.”

Then Aioria draped his arms around Saga’s neck and leaned against his chest. “Ahhh, Saga, hold me,” he said with a dreamy voice.

Saga combed some of Aioria’s pale hair back. “Aioria? How are you feeling” he asked.

“Fine. Great. I feel…Love. I love you Saga,” said Aioria, and gave a soft kiss to his lips. Softer and hotter and sweeter than any of Saga’s dreams could ever use to torture him. He wrapped an arm around Aioria’s waist, thinking about carrying him to Sagittarius. Thinking about a thousand things at once. About calling Aphrodite and demanding the antidote. About calling Aioros and telling him that his precious little brother was in the jaws of a wolf.

Instead, he leaned back on the couch and tilted Aioria’s face up, enjoying the way the early morning light brought into focus the pale colors barely blooming in his hair and eyes.

“Say it again,” ordered Saga, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I love you Saga,” said Aioria, and laughed. “I love you! I love you!”

Saga’s heart raced painfully. Seeing him saying it brought him so much joy and so much pain, he barely understood what he was feeling. He just wanted more.

He traced the side of his face and pulled him closer, flush against him. Aioria took a deep sigh, as if lost in the most marvelous dream.

“You’re so beautiful. You’ve always been so beautiful,” said Saga, and for once he wasn’t lying. For years he had noticed how Aioria had grown to new heights of beauty with the passing of the seasons. But little could he appreciate it during those years, tormented and torn by the obsessions of the darkness in his mind.

Now though, now he felt a quiet peace in his mind as he felt Aioria’s warm strong body against him.

“You’re beautiful too, Saga. I love you so much,” said Aioria, his hands reaching to caress Saga’s hair.

Saga’s last vestiges of restraint broke and he grabbed Aioria’s face, pulling him down for an open mouthed kiss, tasting his mouth. His other hand trailing up and down Aioria’s side, feeling the muscles under his thin shirt moving.

“Say you’ll never leave me,” ordered Saga.

“I’ll never leave you. Never, ever,” said Aioria, and burrowed his face against Saga’s neck, making him laugh.

Saga nuzzled Aioria’s hair, thinking of how horrible this was. Here was Aioria, fulfilling every single yearning of his heart and he probably had no idea what he was doing. He pulled up Aioria for another kiss, tasting his mouth, making him gasp and moan. He hands lowered towards his waist, pulling him so close that he was straddling him.

“Say it again,” demanded Saga, hoping that it would fill the gaping wound in his chest, yet knowing it could not.

“I love you,” repeated Aioria, ever happier, with a voice that showed that he barely knew what the words meant.

The wooden floor of the sunroom creaked, and Saga turned to see Aioros at the entrance, face pale, contorted in shock.

Saga pushed Aioria away from him. “A-Aioros, this-“ he tried to speak, but Aioros crossed the room in a second, grabbed him by the shirt and punched him in the face.

“Aioros?” asked Aioria, his voice slightly more aware. “Who…? Aio…ros?” he asked, drifting in and out of the fog in his mind and reaching out for something to hold.

“Bastard! I’ll kill you!” roared Aioros, punching Saga in the face again.

Aioria jumped to his feet and following the sounds of their fight, grabbed at Aioros, trying to pull him away from Saga.

“Stop! Don’t hurt him!” he yelled, crying. “Don’t fight! Don’t get hurt!”

Aioros looked at him and stopped punching Saga for a moment, taking in Aioria’s tears. With a huff, he threw Saga down on the floor.

“I will come back for you,” he said, pointing at Saga. “And I’ll kill you.”

Then he grabbed Aioria, threw him over his shoulder and ran out of the Gemini house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	8. Chapter 8

Shura patted Aioria’s forehead, checking that his temperature had lowered now that he had taken the antidote. It had taken most of the day for it to work, but he seemed fine enough, so Shura stood up from the edge of the bed and walked out of the bedroom. Aioros tapped his fingers against the surface of the kitchen table, frowning down at the floor.

“How is he?” he asked in an angry grunt, not looking up at Shura.

“Fine. The antidote seems to be working, so when he wakes up there should be only minimal residual effects,” he said, taking a seat next to him. “It will all be gone within 48 hours, according to Aphrodite.”

Aioros nodded. “Good. What did you give him?”

Shura paused for a moment before speaking. “One of Aphrodite’s love potions,” he said.

Aioros stopped his angry tapping and looked up at Shura’s face, reading it for answers. “Dammit Shura, do you think this is a good moment to lie?” he said.

Shura flinched, and then took a longer moment to speak. “It was…a love amplifier. We thought that it would just make him come look for you at Sagittarius and be more affectionate.”

The archer sighed deeply and ran his hands through his tousled curls. “Are you sure?” he asked, even though he could know it was true just from Shura’s voice.

Shura nodded. “Aioros, I’m so sorry. We just…thought it would be a harmless prank. We never imagined that he…that he and Saga…”

“I’m going to kill him. I don’t care. I can’t believe I trusted him Aioria to him.”

“Aioros, please.”

“No. He’s a bastard. A monster. I can’t believe he would prey on Aioria.”

A door creaked open and they looked up to see Aioria walking out of the bedroom.

“Leave him alone,” he said with a hoarse voice.

“What are you doing up? Go back to bed,” said Aioros, standing up.

“I’m fine now. I’m going back to Leo. Leave Saga alone,” he said, and started walking towards the door with hesitant steps.

Aioros hurried to stop him by grabbing his shoulder. “Stop. At least rest a bit. Your fever just went down,” he said, pulling him back.

Aioria shook him off. “Look, I do like him!” he said, and there was a pale reddish flush to his cheeks.

His brother gritted his teeth. “You don’t know what you’re saying. It was the poison.”

“Shura just said what it was! And it…it really felt as if all my feelings suddenly became too much and so strong that I couldn’t control them but…those feelings were already there.”

“No, you must be confused.”

“Aioros listen to me!”

“You cannot fall in love with Saga! Not with him! Aioria he tried to kill Athena, he made Shura kill me, he lied to you for years! Are you serious?!”

“It wasn’t him! It was that thing inside him! Which was also inside you! And if you forgot, you were about to destroy the world once yourself!”

“That wasn’t me!”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

Aioros rubbed at his temple. “No. No, I cannot accept it. You cannot date him. Anyone but him,” he said.

“You can’t tell me who to date or not! You think you can decide everything about my life now that you’re back?”

“I wouldn’t have to if you stopped taking bad decisions!”

“You can’t control me! You can’t appear after twenty years and tell me how to live my life! You barely even know who I am now!” yelled Aioria and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. He ran out the Sagittarius house, when suddenly two arms caught him just before he tripped on the first step.

“Saga,” whispered Aioria.

“Sorry. I was worried when I felt your cosmos flaring. I overheard a bit,” said Saga behind him.

“I see. Well, I suppose…there’s no use denying it now…”

“I never thought you would…”

Aioria gave a sad laugh. “Me neither. I think it just…happened.”

Saga fell silent for a moment. “Do you remember what happened, uhm…this morning?”

Aioria’s face flushed again and he stepped away from him. “Y-Yes, actually I do.

“Gods, Aioria, I…,” said Saga, covering his face. “I was a creep, but it just…was very cute hearing you say it, and I couldn't help myself…”

Aioria shook his head. “I didn’t think you were a creep. Well, I don’t even know what I was thinking then…But Aioros…”

“I know. I heard and….it’s no surprise that he still resents me, I suppose,” replied Saga, nodding.

“But he shouldn’t! It made me so mad and…I don’t know. We had never fought over anything. I can’t believe I said that! I didn't mean it. I was so stupid but I was so angry!” he said, crying again. “I’m angry and sad and I don’t even know what I’m feeling anymore. It’s like going insane.”

Saga wiped away some of the tears falling down Aioria’s cheeks. He really had never seen them fight over anything, and looking at Aioria shaking with sobs was something that turned his stomach with worry. And all because of his own stupidity and greed. All because he once again tried to take advantage of others.

“You should stay with him. Clearly the poison is still affecting you. Go back and just say that you didn’t mean it,” he said. “Tell him the same thing that you’re telling me.”

“But he-“

“He’s had a shock. Don’t blame him too much. In the morning you will both feel much better.”

Aioria lowered his eyes. “You’re right. This…this is all too confusing right now.”

Inside the house of Sagittarius, they felt Aioros’ cosmos flare up violently, then die down. Shura’s voice could be heard from inside, calling for Aioros.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	9. Chapter 9

Inside the residence, Aioros had tried to follow Aioria, but Shura held him back grabbing his arm.

“Aioros stop! Let him go!” he called “I know you’re upset but this isn’t the way to act!”

“Shura you don’t understand!” he said, pulling himself away from him.

“I understand that you’re being irrational! You shouldn’t take out your resentment against us on Aioria! If you’re still angry about what we did, then take it out on me!”

Aioros whirled around. “I don’t feel resentment against you! You didn’t know!” he said, his eyes overflowing with tears. “But Saga…He knew. And it’s so unfair! Why does he get to say a word and the world turns against me? He got you, Aphrodite, Deathmask, everyone, to believe I was a traitor. And I didn’t care, but now…now again he speaks and even Aioria turns against me!”

Shura embraced him, letting him cry against his shoulder. “Aioria is just confused. He probably doesn’t even know what he’s saying.”

Aioros sobbed against him. “Saga...He just keeps taking and taking. But Aioria…I can’t lose him. Not him,” he said.

Shura rubbed at his back, wanting to protect him from everything. From the world, from the past, from his own sadness.

“Everything will be fine by tomorrow morning. You two just need some time to calm down.”

“Aioria has never said something that. We had never fought over anything and it just had to be over Saga,” said Aioros, holding harder against Shura. “It hurts so much.”

“I know…”

“It…My chest hurts…,” he said, slumping against Shura. “I feel…diffuse…”

“Aioros? Wha-? You mean like, physical pain?!” asked Shura, helping him lie down on the floor. Aioros held on to his chest, gasping for breath.

“My body. I think my soul…my soul is fading…,” he said, going limp in Shura’s hold.

“Aioros, stay with me. I’ll bring you to Athena, hold on!”

Aioros grasped at Shura’s shirt, trying to say something, when his cosmos flared, then dimmed down, and he fell unconscious.

“Aioros? AIOROS!!” he yelled.

The door opened and Saga and Aioria ran inside.

“What happened?” asked Aioria.

“I don’t know. He said his chest hurt and then he collapsed,” said Shura, pulling up Aioros. “I’m taking him to Athena. He mentioned his soul felt diffuse.”

Aioria ran to where he could hear Shura’s voice, feeling around to touch his brother's face.

“I’ll take him there,” said Saga, reaching to take Aioros’ body from Shura’s hold. “I’ll use Another Dimension and teleport there. It’ll be faster.”

Shura nodded and let him hold his unconscious boyfriend, but Aioria clung to his brother.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry Aioros,” he kept on mumbling , crying.

“Everything will be fine. Now hold on to me. I’ll bring us all there. Another Dimension!”

Reality tore around them and they moved through the continuum space time . Aioria gasped, his hand going to his chest, and he fainted. Saga too, felt himself becoming diffuse, his strength vanishing, and he fell unconscious right before the world reformed around them. Shura took a second to grab them both and pull them all together, using all his strength to prevent them from drifting until Athena’s chamber reformed around them and they all collapsed in a heap.

Shura finally let go of them and fell to the floor, feeling too weak to even move.

“What is this?!” he heard Shion yell from somewhere and he tried to respond, but no sound would come out of his mouth.


	10. Chapter 10

Athena, during an audience with Shion, suddenly let down the scroll she was reading and looked up, a concerned look on her face.

“Is there an issue?” asked Shion.

Athena rolled the scroll and handed it to him. “No. Reality just got a little tangled up,” she said, standing up.

“W-wha-?!” he stuttered, when a high pitched sound echoed in the hall, and a space hole opened up to let through a bunch of people that Shion could barely recognize. “What is this?!” he cried, running to see who they were.

Athena followed after him with a sigh. “Those children, they’re so silly sometimes,” she said.

Shion noticed Saga’s blue hair spilling from underneath Aioros, Shura trying to hold on to anything he could hold, and also a baby. But there was something very strange about them all.

First of all, he grabbed the crying baby and pulled him into his arms. He was deathly, unnaturally white.

“Is this Aioria?” he asked, staring at the wailing baby in his arms.

Athena pushed Shura aside and dragged Aioros away from Saga, then knelt down next to him and pressed the palms of her hand over his chest. A bright light filled the hall and then vanished.

“There, I sealed his soul back into his body,” said Athena, standing up again. “But the distortion it caused was amplified by using Another Dimension.”

Saga opened his eyes and stared at the vaulted ceiling of the hall for a moment, then pushed himself up. The neck of his shirt slipped down his shoulder and when he reached out to pull it up, he realized his hand was tangled in his sleeve. His clothes felt huge.

Shura managed to push himself to sit up. “Is Aioros alright?” he asked Athena, panting as he recovered his breath. “Is he hurt?”

“He will be fine. And all of you too. In time,” she said.

Shura shook his head and looked at Saga. “You’re a child,” he said, matter of factly, then the full weight of his words hit him, and he looked down at himself. He felt smaller, but not nearly as small as Saga.

“What do you mean I’m a child?” asked, confused. Then noticed his own high pitched voice and he looked down at himself, finding himself trapped in his own clothes. He looked up at Shion holding a white baby. “Aioria! What happened to us?!”

Shura stood up and stumbled towards Aioros, touching his face and feeling for his pulse. Aside from being unconscious and the fact that he now looked fifteen, he seemed fine.

“Perhaps we should call Kanon,” said Athena, looking down at Saga’s eight year old body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	11. Chapter 11

Kanon had to stop and sit down on the floor when he saw tiny child Saga standing next to Athena, an expression of complete seriousness in his face.

And then he laughed.

He laughed for over five minutes until Saga stomped in front of him.

“Stop! This is serious!” he ordered.

Kanon pinched his cheeks. “Oh, you’re so cuuuute! Were we this cute when we were children? You’re extra cute right now!” he said.

Athena giggled. “This is only temporary. Once the distortion of reality around Aioros’ soul stabilizes, I will be able to fix their physical bodies. Could you please stay with him for a few days? I would like to have someone around who can help him in case the distortion affect him more.”

Kanon grabbed Saga and picked him up in his arms. “Of course I’ll stay! Look how cute you’ve become. I’m going to take so many pictures!” he said, rubbing his cheek against Saga’s tiny one.

“Although perhaps it would be better if you took him to the underworld. The distortion is much less likely to get worse there, with how strongly Rhadamanthys keeps control in there.”

“I don’t want to go to the underworld!” cried Saga, struggling to get away from Kanon.

“Oy, are you gonna throw a tantrum now?” asked Kanon, pinching one of Saga’s cheeks.

“It might be better,” said Athena. “In fact, maybe it would be for the best to send you all there.”

Saga shook his head. “I don’t want to! I don’t want to see that awful dog of Hades!” he said, then he froze and fell against Kanon. His face paled.

“Saga, calm down!” said Athena. “Your soul is not well adapted to the form of your body now. Any emotional upset might cause it to drift like Aioros’ did.”

Kanon caressed his hair and held him close to his chest. “Fine, fine, we won’t go back to the underworld. Geez, you haven’t changed at all.”

Saga burrowed against Kanon, hiding his smirk under the fall of his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	12. Chapter 12

Aioros woke up the next morning, to the sounds of a wailing baby nearby. He opened his eyes and noticed he was in his room at the Sagittarius residence. He felt a bit of a lingering headache, but nothing like the oppressive feeling in his chest from the night before.

“Shura?” he called and pushed himself up. He felt lighter somehow, and he looked down at himself. He looked smaller too, as crazy as the thought sounded in his mind.

The door opened and a frazzled Shura came inside carrying a baby in his arms. Aioros blinked a couple times and stared at him for a moment. He looked not a day over fifteen.

“Aioros…,” he said, “Please, try to take this with as much calm as you can. Athena said that any emotional upset might distort our physical forms even further.”

“Our…physical forms?” said Aioros, and looked at the pale baby in Shura’s hands. He was starting to make noises that he recognized as the prelude to further wailing. He jumped to his feet. “Is that Aioria?”

Shura nodded and handed him the baby Aioria before he started wailing again. He hadn’t let Shura get a moment of sleep the night before, and he was at the edge of his nerves. He had never thought that taking care of a baby could be so complicated.

Aioros smiled when he got back his little brother, and immediately adjusted the blanket around him to make him more comfortable, then set him in a different position in his arms. Aioria stopped making noises of discomfort and instead stared up at Aioros.

“He looks just like he used to…I mean, without all the colors, but,” he said, caressing his hair. “Just the same.”

“It shouldn’t last long... I hope it won’t, at least. Perhaps a few days,” said Shura. Aioros walked out of the room and he followed, explaining the situation. “Apparently the time you spent being possessed caused a distortion on reality around your soul that has yet to be fixed and yesterday when you got so upset your soul started to separate from your body and- Where are you going? I’m explaining to you what happened!”

Aioros, hand on the doorknob, looked back at Shura. “I’m listening, but he’s going to get hungry soon. And when I bathe him he’ll need clean clothes,” he said, then smiled at Shura, motioning for him to follow. “Come, let’s go get some stuff for him in town!”

Shura huffed, but followed him anyway.

He didn’t have another chance to explain anything to Aioros, who had no interest in the details of why and how they had ended up like that.

By the third baby clothing store, Shura decided to speak up.

“I think you’re avoiding facing the situation we are in,” he said, while Aioros held up a lion onesie.

“I’m not avoiding it,” said Aioros, picking up a blanket with a picture of a cat. “It’s just not important right now.”

“And this is?” asked Shura, waving at the store. He was trying to remain calm, but he was very close to running out of patience with him.

“Yes! Look!” said Aioros, giving him his brightest smile and putting a tiny cat hat on Aioria.

Shura took a deep breath and realized he was going to have to give up this battle. It was simply not worth it.

Aioros stepped closer to him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Shura’s heart fluttered in his chest.

“Everything will be fine. You said this should be reversed soon, so why worry?” he said in a whisper. “I’m getting my teenage years back even if only for a while, and my baby brother too. I think I got the best part of the deal for once in my life!”

He held Shura’s hand, entwining their fingers, and Shura caught a glance of their reflection on a mirror at the back of the store. They looked the same way as they’d looked in all of the dreams he’d had about Aioros throughout the years he spent regretting his actions. The dreams where Aioros was frozen at that perfect moment of innocence.

Aioros noticed his line of sight and moved so that they stood before the mirror together.

“This is how we would have looked, uh? That’s a nice image. Let’s take a picture!”

Shura felt his cheeks burning and he shook his head. “Of course not. You’re four years older than me. Even if…nothing had happened, we would have never looked like this,” he said, but took out his phone anyway.

“That doesn’t matter. We look like this now, let’s enjoy it!”

Shura took the photo anyway. It was too much of a temptation to resist for him, and he thought that in a way, he understood Aioros’ desire to bask in the moment. The things he had lost forever were back, finally within the grasp of his fingers.

And they would fade soon, all too soon. And the resentment would creep back, Shura was sure of it.

He reached out and kissed him, then hid his face against Aioros’ neck.

“Aw, are you getting emotional?” he asked, patting Shura’s back.

“I just…wanted to do that for so long. When I looked like this…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	13. Chapter 13

“Where did you get those clothes?” asked Kanon, following Saga’s tiny form into the bedroom.

“I had the servants bring me our old clothes,” he said, jumping into the bed and getting under the covers.

Kanon went to sit down at the edge of his bed, looking down at him. “But look, I brought you something nice!” he said, and pulled a child’s pajama he had been hiding behind his back. It had tiny stars and moons on it.

Saga stared at the tiny pajama with contempt that bordered on disgust.

“We could go buy you some other clothes tomorrow,” said Kanon, trying to contain his laughter.

“I don’t want to go out until I recover my body,” said Saga, pulling the covers up to his chin.

Kanon reached out to touch the bruise on his left cheek, making him flinch. “Why did you and Aioros fight?”

Saga pulled the covers over his head. “We didn’t fight. He’s just upset because Aioria likes me and I…might like him too,” he said from within the blankets.

“Aioria? Wow, that’s a surprise. Hmmm, yeah, that does sound like something that would get sweet little Aioros to punch you in the face. You should have known how overprotective he is.”

“Kanon stop,” ordered Saga, still hiding.

“I’m just saying, it’s gonna take him a while to get used to having his brother dating the dude who orchestrated his murder,” he said, caressing Saga’s form over he covers.

“Kanon I _know._ That’s enough.”

“Yeah, yeah, you know. You always know. But I can feel your soul boiling in anger.”

Saga came out from under the covers, staring at Kanon with anger shining in his childish eyes.

“Well I’m tired! I’m tired of running away from my own darkness and having it catch up with me again and again! I’m tired of living in the shadow of my own shadow!” he yelled.

Then he fell back on the bed, his eyes unfocused, reaching out to claw at his chest. Kanon felt his cosmos burn erratically, flaring then dimming.

“Saga?! Saga talk to me!” he yelled.

His brother tried to speak but no words would come out. He spasmed, holding his head, his face contorted as if in great pain. Kanon took him in his arms and felt him changing, becoming smaller. He pushed away some of the hair on his twin’s face. He had fallen unconscious, and his form had become smaller, now looking like a five year old. He draped a blanket around Saga and hurried out of the Gemini house, making his way back to the underworld.

“Let’s take you out of here before I have to take care of a baby!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	14. Chapter 14

Rhadamanthys woke up when he sensed Kanon’s cosmos approaching their castle. He padded into the kitchen and started making coffee. Whatever had happened in the sanctuary was sure to be a story that Kanon wouldn’t shut up about. And while he didn’t particularly care about the state of things there, he did want to know what had prompted Athena to order Kanon to come back so quickly.

He wondered if this might be another one of the Goddess’ games. To show Rhadamanthys that she could take Kanon back at any moment.

He knew that on some level. After all, the Goddess herself had said so when she agreed to every single outrageous demand that Rhadamanthys had made before consenting to rule the underworld according to her rules.

_“No matter which incarnation. No matter whether you meet or not. Whether you fall in love or not. Once he comes back to me, he never leaves._ _”_

The mug on Rhadamanthys’ hand cracked from the strength of his hand. He took the pieces away. No matter the shape it took, or the precious gifts and privileges that came with it, his pride would not let him forget that he was still a prisoner of war, given a very wary leave by the victorious party.

Kanon entered their living quarters.

“About time,” complained Rhadamanthys, turning around to look at him. He noticed Kanon carried something close to his chest. “You didn’t call once. What the hell did Athena want?”

Kanon’s face showed a great worry when he approached Rhadamanthys, which made him worry in turn.

“I had a baby,” he said, tears shining at the corners of his eyes.

“What?!”

“You’ll have to take responsibility Rhada! We’re going to be fathers now!”

“What the fuck do you mean?!” roared Rhadamanthys.

Kanon unwrapped the thing he held close to his chest, showing a tiny five year old boy who looked exactly like him. Rhadamanthys stumbled backwards and had to hold on to the counter to not fall down.

“We’re having a baby, so we need to get married soon. Take responsibility Rhadamanthys Wyvern! You don’t want your son to not have lawfully wedded parents!” said Kanon, a look of contrition and worry in his face.

Rhadamanthys fell to the floor, barely sitting up. “My…son?” he whispered, staring up at the child.

“Kanon let me down, it’s enough of your games,” said the boy, with a look of boredom and an arrogant, stuck up expression that Rhadamanthys would recognize anywhere.

“Saga? Is that Saga?” he asked.

Kanon bursted out laughing. “I’m sorry! I couldn’t let this pass! It was a once in a lifetime opportunity!”

Rhadamanthys clenched his fists. “You’re so lucky I love you or I would be killing you right now,” he muttered, pushing himself up from the floor.

“Kanon let’s go back to the sanctuary. I don’t want to be near this savage beast,” said Saga, rolling his eyes.

Rhadamanthys cursed his life, his fate, and every single decision that brought him to that point in time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	15. Chapter 15

Shura had managed to go to sleep early when Aioros put Aioria to bed. It seemed to Shura that it took an entire set of magic tricks to put a baby to sleep, but he wasn’t going to inquire about Aioros’ technique, so he had slept through the afternoon and into the night, when the lack of a presence next to him woke him up.

He looked around and found neither Aioros nor any sight of Aioria. The house felt very quiet, and worried he stood up to walk out of the bedroom. He found Aioros quietly pacing the empty living room area while feeding Aioria a bottle. In the end he had put off buying any kind of furniture, which didn’t matter much, since they used to spent most of their time in Capricorn anyway.

“Did I wake you up?” asked Aioros.

Shura shook his head. “No, I just felt you weren’t there any more and it woke me up,” he said.

“Aw, how cute,” said Aioros, and went to give him a kiss, making Shura’s heart flutter.

“Do you need anything? Why don’t you sit down?” he asked.

“No, I was just thinking…,” said Aioros, going back to pacing and looking at the open space. “I should get like, a couch. That way when we carry him in different places there’ll be somewhere to put him. And I need to get more furniture. There’s nowhere to put his stuff.”

Shura scoffed a laugh. “You haven’t cared to buy a couch for months but suddenly you want furniture?” he asked.

“Well, I need it now.”

“You kept saying it was an unnecessary expense.”

“It’s never unnecessary when it comes to children. And I’m a gold saint now. I might as well have unlimited money. I would have given anything to have half of what I have now when I was training to be a saint and taking care of Aioria at the same time.”

Shura realized that he had never really known about Aioros’ life before he became a gold saint. Looking at him carrying his baby brother in his arms, he felt as if he was somehow seeing a different side of him. A secret side. He felt in a way as if he was intruding somewhere he had not been invited to.

And yet, he wanted to ask. _“How was it back then?_ _”_ the question died in Shura’s throat.

Aioros turned to look at him again and gave him a sad smile. “You look so worried Shura,” he said.

“It’s just that this is such a…strange situation. Even Athena wasn’t sure when she could fix our forms. If something were to happen now…”

Aioros nodded, then went to sit down at the kitchen table. Shura followed him.

“I know. And I know I should be worried but I just…want to treasure this moment. I just got everything back. The years I lost, the brother I couldn’t care for. You,” said Aioros. His voice chocked and his eyes filled with happy tears when he smiled at Shura. “Let me just enjoy this dream before I have to wake up.”


	16. Chapter 16

Rhadamanthys adapted one of the rooms in the apartment for Saga to sleep in, and had a small bed brought up for him, despite Saga’s constant complaints that he wouldn’t be able to sleep in “that disgusting place”.

“You were far less arrogant when Lord Hades resurrected you,” muttered Rhada, at the end of his patience with Saga.

Saga lifted an eyebrow at him. “I was putting up an act to trick him. It worked,” he said.

Rhadamanthys clenched his fist, seriously considering the pros and cons of strangling the tiny bastard. Kanon entered the room.

“So, if we had a baby this would be the nursery?” he asked, looking at the tiny bed and the few bits of furniture around. “It looks a bit drab.”

“Kanon, I swear if you don’t stop…,” warned Rhadamanthys.

“Nyeh, you’re so boring,” said Kanon and stuck out his tongue at him.

Rhadamanthys sighed and left them alone. Once he was gone, Saga went up to Kanon and pulled on his sleeve.

“Kanon, since I’m already here can you take me to see my dark side?” he asked.

“To the lowest circle?” asked Kanon in surprise. “I don’t think so. It’s a no children area.”

“Kanon I’m serious!”

“Me too! You’re five, what do you think it’s going to be like facing it like that. When you get back to your own body we can see about that,” he said, and went out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Saga sat down on the bed. Being so small and at the mercy of Kanon and Rhadamanthys gave him the most asphyxiating feeling of helplessness and he hated it. He hated his stupid, unstable body, he hated the underworld, he hated Rhadamanthys, and his hate made it impossible to calm down the storm of emotions in his chest.

As he looked at the low ceiling of the small, dark room he was in, he thought that anything would be better than being there. Even the great empty halls of Gemini, where he could hear the whispers of the darkness echoing after each of his footsteps.

He jumped off the bed and walked to the door, wondering if he might be able to slip past Kanon and Rhadamanthys and make his way back to the Sanctuary. He would call Kanon later and just tell him that he would be staying at the Sanctuary alone. He opened the door slowly, watching for any noise. He heard the soft padding of Kanon’s feet crossing the living room towards the kitchen, where he could hear Rhadamanthys fiddling with something. Saga took a peek out of the small opening of the door.

Kanon walked towards the blonde and wrapped his arms around his waist from behind, letting his head fall on his shoulder.

“Sorry. I know it’s hard,” he said, his voice a whisper.

“Don’t apologize for him. He’s the asshole.”

Kanon rubbed his face against Rhadamanthys’ back. “Please, it will only be a few days. Try to be nice to him.”

“I’m trying Kanon. Gods know I’m trying,” he said, turning around to touch his lover’s face and kiss him.

Rhadamanthys pulled him closer and Kanon relaxed against him with an easy laugh. “I know you are,” he said with a sigh. “Thank you…”

Saga closed the door.

He’d seen enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	17. Chapter 17

That night, Kanon kept tossing and turning in bed. Rhadamanthys tried to ignore him, until he felt Kanon get up from the bed. He looked up at the clock. Three in the morning.

“What is it?” he asked, pushing himself up on the bed.

Kanon looked around for his slippers. “Aside from us, nothing can get into the castle, right?” he asked as he bent down to put them on his feet.

“Of course not. Like you asked. If Saga could get in here it was only because your souls are so alike,” he said.

“Are you sure?”

“Kanon what is really the issue?”

Kanon shook his head. “I’m gonna check on Saga,” he said, standing up from the bed.

Rhadamanthys rubbed at his face. “He’s fine.”

“Pfff. Saga’s never fine, much less in here,” said Kanon, and walked out towards his twin’s room.

He turned the doorknob softly and opened the door. Inside the room he could see Saga’s tiny form under the covers, outlined by the underworld’s red light filtering through the window.

“What is it Kanon?” asked Saga. His brother entered the room and sat down on the bed next to him.

“Just wanted to check on you,” he said, passing his fingers through Saga’s hair. He could feel that his soul was agitated. It had felt much farther when he was in the other room, but now he could sense it clearly. There was something upsetting him. He touched Saga’s tiny cheek with his thumb. The bruise from his fight with Aioros had almost faded.

“Did you have nightmares too?” asked Saga.

“…No,” answered Kanon, before he could realize that perhaps he should have lied. But in his and Rhada’s house he never had to lie about anything anymore, so it had caught him unguarded. He noticed Saga’s surprised look, a tinge of sadness shining in his eyes.

“Oh,” his brother said. “So even in the same house…It was only me.”

Kanon laid down next to Saga and threw his arm around his small body. He really was so cute like this, but his eyes…his eyes were the same. His eyes were the same as Kanon remembered seeing them when the darkness had started awakening inside him. When he’d started to change. A shiver of unease ran down Kanon’s spine when he thought back to those dark nights, and he almost couldn’t bear to remember it.

What that thing had done to them, when they had been so very little…It was too cruel to think about.

“Did you have nightmares about the darkness?” he asked. “It’s sealed in the lowest circle, for real. Rhada and Athena sealed it”

Saga burrowed under the covers “I dreamt about it, but I also dreamt…That Aioros never forgave me. That Aioria then left me, because he could live without my love, but not without Aioros’ love,” he said. “And I think, if it comes to that…I would prefer it. If Aioros really never forgives me-”

Kanon pulled him closer against his chest.

“Never is a long time. We’ve been dead and alive a few times and we haven’t even tasted a bit of never. He’ll come around, you’ll see.”

“How? What do I have to do to make him see I’m trying my best? That I’m giving all that I can give.”

“You can’t,” said Kanon, tapping Saga’s nose with the tip of his finger. “That’s always been your problem Saga. So strong and mighty, the golden boy of the sanctuary, always the best... You’ve always been able to do something to get what you want. But this time you can’t. You can only wait and believe. There’s no changing the heart of people. Not even with all your powers.”

Saga clung to him. “But when? When will things change? When will Aioros stop resenting me? When will you stop looking at me with fear? When?!”

Kanon held him against his chest as Saga cried.

When?

Even he didn’t know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	18. Chapter 18

Kanon had stayed with him until Saga calmed down and went back to sleep. But as soon as Kanon left, the lack of his presence made him wake up again, and Saga couldn’t go back to sleep. He looked up at the clock Rhadamanthys had set on the bedside table. It said 5:30 and he groaned.

He couldn’t take this anymore. Sleeping at Gemini was hard, but sleeping in the underworld was near impossible and all the stress from the last few days was causing him to be at his wits end. Every time he closed his eyes he could hear the darkness coming again. Every time he laid his head down on the pillow he heard the whisper of its voice. Kanon had to be wrong. It could not be sealed up like he said. Otherwise, how could Saga hear it so clearly? How could he feel it creeping around the castle? He had to go look for it. He had to destroy it.

He got out of the bed, put on his shoes, clothes, and the tiny coat that Kanon had gotten for him. With silent steps he exited the bedroom and walked out of the apartment, running down the empty flights of stairs of the castle. Outside he could hear the poisonous winds of the underworld roaring.

He made his way towards the main door and tried to open it, but it was locked. He gritted his teeth as he considered just breaking it down with the power of his cosmos. He only had a small part of his physical strength, but his cosmos was still as strong as ever.

He decided against it. He was sure Kanon and Rhadamanthys would notice it if he did that. Instead, he looked around and walked through different hallways, looking for a different way out of the castle.

Soon he found an open door that led to a type of courtyard with dead trees all around. He noticed the branches of one reached into an opening in the thick walls of the castle. He started climbing the tree with his usual dedication. Even as small as he was, he was still stronger than any grown man, so he didn’t think much about the effort to climb the tree. And his small form even made it easy to crawl up the branches of the tree towards the opening on the wall.

“Saga what the fuck are you doing?!” yelled Rhadamanthys, from the door that led to the courtyard.

Saga started crawling towards the opening faster. He was not going to be stopped by one of Hades’ disgusting dogs.

“Saga I’m talking to you!” called Rhadamanthys. Saga looked down and saw him climb the tree after him so he jumped straight into the opening of the wall. A small rectangular passageway just big enough for him to fit in. He was sure Rhadamanthys wouldn’t be able to catch up to him and he smirked with smug joy, until he felt a hand close around his feet.

“There’s a seal around the castle,” said Rhadamanthys, pulling him back. “You’re not getting out of here so come back, you crazy little bastard.”

“I’m not crazy!” cried Saga, and hit him with a blast of his cosmos right into his face. Rhadamanthys fell back, taking with him Saga’s shoe. “I’m not crazy! I’m not”

He couldn’t be. He was sane. His mind had to be working right. It had to.

He kept crawling until he hit against an invisible barrier. He punched through with his cosmos and he jumped out before it reformed. He fell down carefully, but his right leg still stung from the impact. He touched his naked foot for a moment before running away from the castle. He had to get away before Rhadamathys caught up to him. He used Another Dimension to transport himself away from the castle, but he couldn’t map a straight path through the underworld, and he was expelled in the middle of a barren field, next to a river of blood.

He looked around, trying to figure out where he was, but everything looked so different from the last time he had been in the underworld that he couldn’t recognize anything. And besides, he soon realized that things looked much different when you were smaller. Trees and rocks blocked his vision, and he quickly lost his way. He stopped at a crossroads and had to struggle to read the signs at the top. They led to strange places that he didn’t remember, but he recognized the name Cocytus. He realized that he must be very close to it. That must have been why his soul had been so restless. And if his darkness was locked, it would be easier to destroy it. He just had to destroy it and then he would be free. Clearly Rhadamanthys hadn’t destroyed it because he was stupid, but Saga would get rid of it.

He set off on his way to Cocytus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	19. Chapter 19

The cold was the first thing that surprised Saga.

The second was the clarity with which he could hear it calling out to him. He had to be close.

But Cocytus was so cold. His right foot felt numb, but he kept going through the sheer discipline that had gained him the Gemini cloth.

All around the white, frozen wasteland he saw the faces of those condemned. He heard their groans of pain. Others, too wasted away had become no more than blackened skeletons, staring at him as he crossed through, the clatter of their bones a constant whisper that hinted at words inside Saga’s head.

In his mind their clattering of the bones talked of the darkness. It warned, it feared, it mocked. A thousand voices of the condemned echoing in his head.

One of the skeletons reached out with a boney hand at him, grabbing at his naked foot, his mouth open in a constant scream.

Saga tore off the bones holding him and threw them away. “Where is the darkness?” he demanded the skull, which moved side to side, with no tongue to speak with, not voice to be heard.

And yet Saga heard. He heard a voice that had been with him since birth.

 _“I am always there_ ” it said. _“You don’t have to look for me. You never have. I am in you. I am in everyone. Did you not see that I was also in Aioros?”_

Saga grabbed the skull and tore it off the ground, lifting it in his tiny hands.

“I’ll destroy you. I’ll destroy you wherever you hide,” he told it. The roaring wind around picked up, tousling his hair, getting under his coat to claw at him with icy fingers.

 _“Yes. Destroy me. Destroy yourself. Destroy everything,”_ said the voice of the darkness.

Saga blinked and saw that he was holding Aioros’ head. Another blink. Aioros’ face looked back at him with the same long black hair and black eyes that he’d had under the possession. His blood, red and black flowed through Saga’s hands, down his arms. And it was cold and hot and burning and freezing-

Someone slapped the skull from his hands and pulled him up.

“No! It’s there! It will come back!” he screamed, trashing against the hold.

“Stop! That’s not what you’re looking for!” said Rhadamanthys, taking off his coat and draping it around Saga’s body.

Saga looked down, and saw the cracked skull on the white ground. The voices in his head died down, and he saw there had only been the roar of the wind and the clattering of bones to be heard.

It was all in his mind.

Rhadamanthys ran out of Cocytus with him in his arms, and only stopped once they were away from the cold and Saga had stopped shivering. He sat down at a nearby rock and unwrapped Saga from his coat.

Saga braced himself for violence, hoping that Rhadamanthys would hold himself back from hitting him too hard in the form he was, so he crouched in on himself, covering his head.

The pain never came.

Rhadamanthys checked his foot, rubbing it a little to see the flow of blood on it, then put the shoe back on it, and covered Saga again.

“It’s not in Cocytus,” he said, and stood up again with Saga in his arms. “But if you really can’t stand to not know where it is, I’ll show it to you.”

A great black carriage arrived before them, drawn by a black horse with eyes of blue fire. The driver, a black soul that only hinted at a human form, opened the door for them.

“Tell Kanon I found him,” ordered Rhadamanthys before getting into the carriage.

Saga bit his lower lip when he heard that. “Don’t tell him where I was,” he asked Rhadamanthys.

“If you didn’t want people to find out then you shouldn’t have gone there.”

“Bastard, I hate you,” muttered Saga.

Rhadamanthys ignored him and they stayed in silence until the carriage stopped again. Saga moved to get down, but Rhadamanthys held him harder.

“I’m not letting you down until we get back to the castle,” he said, and stepped off the carriage with him in his arms.

“I can walk,” complained Saga.

“I know. That was the problem,” grumbled Rhadamanthys. A great black structure rose ahead of them, with a simple small opening as the only door. No markings on the walls or anything that would hint at what was inside. “What did you see back in Cocytus?”

“I heard it. It was speaking to me. And it saw it…I can sometimes hear it. In dreams and in waking life, but lately…it’s stronger. Now things…become strange. Now I see things and I’m not sure if they’re real…”

Rhadamanthys made a vague noise of acknowledgement, but said no more.

They went down a black staircase, and Saga started feeling a strange pressure all around him. As if there was an energy of containment weighing down on him. He grasped at Rhadamanthys’ shirt to have something to hold on to.

“There it is,” said Rhadamanthys, shifting Saga so that he could see the black crystal embedded on the wall, covered in Athena’s talismans that vibrated with her energy, mixing with a net of black underworld energy. “Athena and I sealed it after we rebuilt the gate. It cannot get out. It cannot speak or escape or do anything. Whatever you saw…It was not the darkness that was in you.”

Saga stared at the glowing black crystal, his eyes going from the talismans to the seals and back to the crystal.

“No. That can’t be true. It can’t. I saw… You’re lying!” said Saga, his heart racing, his hands shaking.

“If you don’t believe me you can go to your Goddess and ask her. She will tell you the same thing,” said Rhadamanthys, walking away from the crystal and back up the staircase.

Saga started hitting him in the chest with his small fists. “It can’t be! It can’t be true!” he yelled, tears falling down his cheeks. He started sobbing. “Then…then…I’ve gone mad. Then it means I’m crazy…”

He slumped against Rhadamanthys’ chest as the realization of what he had said meant. None of the things that had happened to him were real. They were all in his mind.

And his mind was the problem.

Rhadamanthys scoffed. “So dramatic. Giving up just because you’re having hallucinations?”

“Stop!” cried Saga, feeling weak and so helpless it made him feel like he was asphyxiating. “You can hit me. Hurt me all you want, but don’t…don’t mock me…”

“I’m not. But if there’s something wrong with your mind then we’ll take you to a doctor and see how to fix it. You’re not the first man who has hallucinations, and you won’t be the last. And what do you even mean you’ve gone crazy? Crazy is what I call you because I can’t stand you and you keep worrying Kanon.”

Saga thought about Rhadamanthys’ words, gradually calming down.

“I thought…It would make everything right,” whispered Saga once they were back in the carriage. “I thought if it was gone…everything would be fixed.”

Rhadamanthys sighed. “If only life was that easy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	20. Chapter 20

Kanon was furious.

“What the fuck were you thinking Saga?!” he yelled when they came back. Then he turned towards Rhadamanthys. “And you! You just left without even waking me up!”

“I didn’t expect the brat to break the barrier,” he muttered, going into Saga’s room and setting him in the bed.

“He’s the Gemini saint! Of course he could break the barrier! He can teleport! Gods Rhada!” he said, passing his hands through his hair in frustration. “I need coffee. It’s too early to be dealing with shit like this without coffee.”

He went to the kitchen and Rhadamanthys walked out of the room, then he took out a key from his pocket.

“I’m locking you here with a key and with a full seal around the room. Don’t even try to escape or next time I’ll chain you up,” he said.

Saga frowned at him, clenching his tiny hands into fists on his lap.

“You…Thank you…For helping me,” he said, looking away.

“I’m still not letting you out,” said Rhadamanthys.

Saga took a deep breath. “He likes you, so I have to stop hating you. But…But don’t you ever hurt him! If you hurt him I’ll kill you! I don’t care what happens to the underworld, if you ever hurt him I’ll tear your head off!”

Rhadamanthys took a deep breath. “That’s fine. I guess we can agree on that,” he said, and closed the door.

Then he locked it and sealed it.

Behind him, Kanon laughed in the kitchen. Rhadamanthys rubbed at his shoulders and walked up to him.

“Awww, how cute,” said Kanon, lifting his coffee mug. “You two are finally getting along.”

“He’s five, so I couldn’t break his fucking face, but the moment that his body’s fixed, I’m punching his teeth out.”

Kanon reached out and pulled him down for a quick kiss. “You two will be friends in no time,” he said.

Rhadamanthys sighed and held Kanon’s hand. “I need to tell you something about him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	21. Chapter 21

Shura felt dread rise up in his throat when Shion knocked on the door of the Sagittarius residence.

Shion smiled down at him. “Hi Shura. Is Aioros here? I would like to talk to him,” he said, with a soft and calm voice that told Shura there was something he was hiding.

He nodded and led him into the living room, where Aioros was playing with Aioria on the carpet. Aioros had not only gotten a rug, and a couple couches for the living room. He had actually furnished the whole house like Shura had asked him to do for months. So much that Shura had started to wonder when Shion was going to start complaining about the budget.

But Shion had never said a single word about the expenses, which had struck Shura as strange. But now that he saw the look that Shion and Aioros exchanged, he knew there was so much more to it than he’d thought.

Aioros handed Aioria to Shura. “Can you hold him for me?”

“He’s looking much better,” noted Shion, seeing that there was far more color to Aioria’s hair and skin.

“I think he’s getting back his sight too. He responds to light much more,” said Aioros.

Shion nodded. “I came to tell you that Athena has said she can now fix your bodies,” he said. “We can get it done tomorrow during the full moon. Or during the next one in a month. As you would prefer, but we do have to turn you all back at the same time.”

Aioros leaned back on the couch. “What did Saga say? Is he still in the underworld with Kanon and Rhadamanthys?”

“He’s still there, but…I haven’t told him anything. He had some trouble at the beginning but he’s been much better since he’s been in the underworld. So if you would prefer to have it done next month, there wouldn’t be any trouble.”

Aioros sighed. “It wouldn’t be fair to him. I bet he’s losing his mind locked in there with Rhadamanthys.”

Shion gave a small laugh. “Kanon said they have been getting along better,” he said.

“That sounds like a miracle,” said Aioros. “But Aioria would do much better if we changed him back. And Deathmask and Aphrodite keep making fun of Shura all the time.”

“I’m fine,” said Shura, not even sure why he’d said that.

“I wanted to give this decision to you,” said Shion.

Aioros sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “What for? You know what I would choose.”

“I wanted to know what you would want.”

“I’m not going to choose what I want. I’m going to choose what needs to be done,” said Aioros, looking down at his hands.

Shion gave him a sad smile, but Shura could see pride shining in his eyes. “Even if there were no consequences?”

“There _are_ consequences. There always are. And I…I’m not going to lie Shion. This has been everything I’ve ever wanted but…” he said, gesturing as if he couldn’t find the words. As if he wanted to be understood without having to speak.

Shion nodded. “It’s too little, too late.”

“And I couldn’t stand it. To know that you’re all making a sacrifice, just to indulge me. I don’t want to turn back but…what I want more than anything, is to do the right thing. Even if it hurts.”

“I see.”

“Did you really not know what I would choose? Or did you want to tempt me and test me again?” asked Aioros with a tired tone.

“I was hoping that you would fail my test for once. I would not have hold it against you,” said Shion. “I wish…you would fail my tests more often.”

Aioros sighed. “I fail enough as it is,” he said, and waved towards himself and Shura and Aioria. “Look at the mess I made. I can’t believe I lost control like that, even though Athena had said so many times that I had to remain calm because of the disturbance around my soul. I had to go and yell at Aioria like that and make us both angry…”

“You have only been back alive for a few months Aioros. Don’t be so harsh on yourself. Think of it as a strike of luck out of a bout of misfortune. It was quite harmless, all things considered.”

“At least there’s that, I guess.”

“And for what it’s worth, even if this is also too little too late. I wanted to say that…I’m sorry, for trying to push you away from becoming the Sagittarius saint. For rejecting you and Aioria like I did.”

Aioros lowered his eyes. “You don’t have to apologize…You had no way to know I could succeed. None of us had enough of a chance written in our stars. Me less than the others.”

“I should have seen it in your eyes. But I dismissed you because of your brother, who had his fate written clearly in the stars. And I didn’t even bother to read it. My mistake would have costed the sanctuary two saints. It would have costed me a successor.”

Aioros laughed, and Shura flinched hearing the sadness in it.

“That didn’t work out so well, uh?”

“It worked out more than well. We won the war. We’re both back. I only wish, I had been able to apologize earlier.”

“Shion…,” whispered Aioros.

Shion stood up and went to ruffle Aioros’ hair. “Be at Star Hill tomorrow at dawn. I’ll let Kanon know that he has to bring Saga,” he said and left.

Aioros led him out and Shura went to put little Aioria down in his crib, taking advantage of the fact he had fallen asleep. He looked down at him for a moment, trying to get the racing thoughts in his head in order. He felt Aioros’ arms wrap around his waist and his head fall against his shoulder.

“He fell asleep?” he asked.

Shura made a noise of agreement and reached up to card his fingers through Aioros’ dark curls. He really couldn’t endure it anymore. He really had to ask.

“What did Shion mean? That he rejected you and Aioria?”

Aioros rubbed his face against Shura’s shoulder and pulled him closer against himself. Then he laughed.

“It’s kind of a funny story,” he said, and Shura knew right away it would not be funny at all. “You know how all those destined to be the golden saints are brought to the sanctuary as babies? Well, we weren’t. Our mom brought us here. I still remember her. She was very nice but she was sick with something. I don’t know with what. I only remember that she was coughing blood all the way. She died before we could reach the sanctuary. She told me I had to bring Aioria there. That they would help us.”

“Aioros…I never…”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I made it to the sanctuary with Aioria. Shion saw my fate in the stars and noticed I had a slight chance of being fit for the Sagittarius cloth, but then he dismissed me and sent me out to live with the servants instead. The chance was too small, and I had to take care of Aioria at the same time. He thought I would never make it. I was too old anyway and he was sure I would fail. But what he didn’t know was that I’m the most stubborn kid he had ever encountered. I knew I could do it. I knew because I had to do it…I only had my fists and my brother and I had to succeed. So I harassed him daily, at all hours, until he gave me a chance to compete. And you know how the story went after that.”

Shura turned around and threw his arms around Aioros’ neck.

“Don’t pity me,” said Aioros with a sad smile.

He was always smiling. Shura realized that all of Aioros’ emotions ultimately expressed themselves through joy in a way that brightened him and everything around him.

“I don’t,” said Shura. “I love you. I love you so much.”

He kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	22. Chapter 22

They were all turned back the next dawn in the same hall where they had been brought back to life.

Aioria was the first to jump back on his feet. “Where is- Where is Aioros?” he asked, holding his head and stumbling forwards. Shion reached out to hold him.

“Don’t try to move so fast! He’s here, you’re all back. How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Fine, fine, just a little dizzy. Where is he?”

Aioros pushed himself up with a pained groan. “I’m here, I’m here, give me a sec…,” he said. “Oh, I feel so old now.”

Aioria ran towards where he could hear his brother’s voice and hugged him. “Aioros! I’m so sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean anything I said! Please don’t be angry!”

Aioros patted his head and hugged him back. “It’s ok. We were all too emotional at the moment. Let’s rest and we’ll talk later,” said his big brother, and placed a small kiss on Aioria’s forehead.

Saga took a moment longer to sit up.

“Are you ok? How are you feeling?” asked Kanon, hovering over him and staring at his face.

“Fine. Everything feels right,” he said, rubbing at his neck.

Kanon pouted. “You’re not cute anymore,” he said, and pinched Saga’s cheeks.

Saga gritted his teeth and pinched Kanon’s cheeks too. “Idiot, we look the same!”

“Nuuuu! Rhada says I’m the cute one!”

Saga let go of his brother’s cheeks “Don’t tell me that! I don’t want to know anything about your relationship! I can’t stand him.”

Kanon laughed. “You’re still throwing tantrums. Looks like you’re well enough.”

Saga looked out to where Aioria was still holding on to Aioros, mumbling apologies while Shura looked at them with eyes full of relief. He turned back to Kanon.

“I need to speak to Shion. I’ll meet you in Gemini,” he said. “Unless you want to go back to the underworld now.”

Kanon shook his head. “It’s fine. I’ll wait. And…Ah, well. Rhada told me about…everything…,” he said, holding on to Saga’s hand.

“I figured he would,” said Saga, rubbing his thumb over Kanon’s fingers. “Gossiping bastard, can’t keep his mouth shut.”

Kanon pinched his cheek again. “Everything will be alright. You’ll see. Go, I’ll wait in Gemini.”

He left, and Saga went on to talk to Shion, who stood at the side, watching the other three with amusement shining in his eyes.

“Shion?” asked Saga, and despite his body being back, he still felt like he was five again. “Can I…Can I talk to you for a moment? In private?”

Shion looked at him, and instantly saw the conflict and pain in his eyes. He nodded.

“Come. Let’s take a walk through the gardens.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	23. Chapter 23

Saga was putting away books in the study when he felt Aioros’s cosmos announce itself. He set the tomes down on the desk and wiped his dusty hands with a rag.

“You could have rang. I have a guests bell,” he said and looked up at the small window near the vaulted ceiling where Aioros was perched up and looking down at him.

“Last time you didn’t let me in,” he said, a mischievous smirk in his lips.

“You could at least get down from there. Though I know you enjoy sitting on your moral high horse.”

“Actually, it’s my full time job to be half moral high horse. I got a horse uniform and everything,” he said, and jumped down from the window.

“You still think you’re so funny, uh?” said Saga, leading him to the living room.

“The underworld didn’t take that from me. It was the crash back to the living world that messed me up.”

Saga nodded. He sat down on one of the couches and motioned for Aioros to take a seat too. But Aioros climbed on the back of the couch, perching himself up like an overgrown child. Saga rubbed at his temple.

“I take it you came to talk about Aioria.”

“Yup. But I promised him I wouldn’t attack you right away.”

“Thank you. That’s very nice, but you need not worry. I will…I will be breaking things up with Aioria,” said Saga, looking away.

“What? Why?!” demanded Aioros, scrambling over the back of the couch. “If you were just playing with him I really will kill you!”

“Please sit like a civilized person,” said Saga, leaning back away from him. “And it’s for the best. I would prefer to keep this between us for now, but…I have a problem. There seems to be some side effects left from the possession of the darkness I had. Now that it has been extracted, my mind is…not working correctly. Shion and some doctors have been testing me and it seems like the symptoms resemble those of paranoid schizophrenia, but they need to make more tests to be sure.”

“Uhuh, but why do you want to break up with Aioria?”

Saga grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shook him furiously. “Were you even listening to me you horse brained idiot?!” he yelled.

“I was,” said Aioros, confused. “I don’t know what that _paranoia sofrania_ is, but if you’re sick and going to doctors, then what is the problem?”

“You’re just as hurtfully innocent as Aioria, but nowhere near as cute. On you it’s annoying,” said Saga, and let him fall down on the couch. Aioros ended up with his legs over the back of the couch, looking up at the way Saga was passing his hands through his hair in distress. “The problem. The problem is what if I don’t get better Aioros? What if my mind is permanently damaged? What if I only get worse and worse from now on?! I can’t…I can’t ask Aioria to stay with me when I don’t even know what’s going on with my mind.”

“So you were planning on just breaking up with Aioria without telling him any of this?” said Aioros, finally moving to sit down right on the couch.

“I don’t…want him to know about this yet. I don’t want him to think differently of me because of this. And if it really only get worse…”

“You don’t even know if you have that thing and you’re worrying like that? It’s like you just decided that it’s over for you.”

“Aioros you don’t even know what I’m talking about, don’t dismiss it like that! I’ve gone mad! I’m losing my mind! Of course I can’t ask Aioria to endure this with me!”

Aioros wrapped his finger around a lock of Saga’s hair. “It sounds to me like you’re being too dramatic. It also sounds like you’re very lonely with all this, and that you think that being more alone is the answer. Why don’t you try calming down and wait? There’s nothing that can be done about this thing until you find out what’s the real issue. So just wait, and let us wait with you. Don’t push everyone away.”

Saga looked at Aioros playing with his hair, and realized that he felt the same way as when he had laid in Kanon’s arms, wondering when things would get better, when he would be able to change all that had gone wrong through the years. And yet once more, there was nothing that he could do. There was only waiting.

“Do you hate me?” he asked before he could stop himself.

Aioros gave a soft laugh. “Hmmm, I don’t think so,” he said, thoughtfully. “I think I’m jealous of you, of certain aspects of your fate. I think there is…a lot I resent about my fate. And all those things I wanted were things you got. Isn’t that funny? It’s always jealousy that had made us hurt each other, uh?”

Saga took a deep breath. “It…yes, it really has been.”

Aioros reached out to ruffle Saga’s hair. “Take it calmly. Just let us be there. Let us help,” he said. “But if you ever do hurt him on purpose, I’m gonna have to kill you. And not even Athena is going to stop me. I’ll tear off your head and drag you down with me back to the underworld. You understand?”

Saga remembered his own words to Rhadamanthys. _“If you hurt him I’ll kill you! I don’t care what happens to the underworld, if you ever hurt him I’ll tear off your head!”_ The memory made him smile.

“I understand.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	24. Chapter 24

The day after they had been turned back to their original ages, Shura woke up to find Aioros packing away all of the baby things he had bought for Aioria.

“Have you even eaten anything?” asked Shura, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

Aioros looked up at him from where he knelt down on the carpet in the middle of the room.

“Hey. I wasn’t hungry, so I started cleaning up around,” he said, folding a blanket and putting it away into a box.

“You want me to help?” asked Shura, kneeling down next to him.

“Yes, you can start by giving me kisses,” said Aioros, moving forward to steal a quick kiss from his lover before he could even react.

“Dummy…,” whispered Shura, feeling his cheeks flushing. “You don’t have to put it all away now.”

“Well, I’ll have to do it at one point or another, so I figured the sooner the better,” he said, closing the box full of baby clothes and blankets. “Well, that’s that about _that_. It was fun while it lasted.”

Shura reached out to hold his hands “Aioros, let’s have a baby,” he said.

Aioros blinked, processing what he had just heard.

“WHAT?!” he cried.

“You enjoyed having Aioria back. You were so happy and fulfilled…,” said Shura, thinking back to the way Aioros had seemed to be filled with a new joy for life. “We could adopt a baby if you would like.”

“Sh-Shura that…We’ve barely been together. Shura, you…you’re so great and you love me so much, but I can’t just let us take such a decision right away. And all just because…because I don’t know how to live on my own. Because I can’t let go of my attachment to the past. I don’t want you to bend over backwards to give me what you think I want. Or even what I think I want. Let’s be together, only us… for a while longer, even if it’s hard for me to adapt to the present,” said Aioros, entwining their fingers. “And besides, we’re not even married. How could we have a baby?”

Shura huffed and pulled his hands away from Aioros’ hold. “You’re right,” he said.

“See? You’re so passionate my love, you want to go so fast! Hahaha!”

Shura nodded, and knelt on one knee before him.

“Then, Aioros, please marry me. My life and duty belong to Athena. My right hand has been consecrated as her sword,” he said, putting his right hand over his heart. Then he extended his left hand to Aioros. “But I offer you my left hand, and all the days and all the nights that are not claimed by Her. I offer you every part of me that is not for the gods to take.”

Aioros froze, staring at Shura mouth open.

Then he tackled him onto the floor, kissing him anywhere his lips could reach. Shura felt tears running down Aioros’ face and he pulled away to hold his face.

“Why are you crying?” he asked, thumbing Aioros’ rosy lips. His fingers trembled and he could barely keep his voice steady from the excitement that had set his heart racing.

“I don’t know. I…I’m just…happy. I’m so happy it’s like- like my chest can’t hold so much happiness, and I’m crying instead!” said Aioros, laughing. “Shura! I love you! I love you so much!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and if you enjoyed this chapter, please consider leaving a comment or sharing this fic. It would mean a lot to me.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


	25. Chapter 25

Kanon finally grew fed up with Rhadamanthys’ cold attitude.

“What is it now? Are you still angry that Saga had to stay the last few days? Geez, he’s gone now.” he asked during breakfast. “I actually found him less annoying when he was around these days. Like the smaller he is, the less he annoyed me. I love him but gods know we’re better with some distance between us.”

Rhadamanthys scoffed. “It’s not that. I don’t give a fuck about Saga.”

Kanon stood up and went around the table to sit down on his lap. “Then what is it?” he asked, draping his arms around his neck.

“You don’t think I’m powerful enough” said Rhadamanthys.

“Where the hell did you get that from?” asked Kanon. “I’ve never cared about that. Hell, I killed you. Did you already forget about that?”

“You don’t think I am powerful enough to keep our child safe if we ever have one.”

Kanon rolled his eyes at that. “Seriously? You were so upset by my jokes? Rhada I was just joking! That was it!”

“You kept worrying about Saga. You kept doubting the protections of the castle.”

“Rhada everything’s fine!”

“It’s fine until you have to protect something valuable to you. It’s fine until there’s something beyond ourselves to protect. So tell me,” said Rhadamanthys, holding Kanon’s hands. “What must I do to make you feel safe? I can arm the castle, bring my army back. I can force Athena to release my cosmos completely. I can rearrange the entire underworld. Tell me. What is it?”

Kanon felt his heart give a painful jump.

Safe.

No one had ever wanted to make him feel safe.

He smiled, and felt something warm and painful in his heart. His vision blurred, his eyes filling with tears.

“Kanon…,” whispered Rhadamanthys, wiping a tear from his lover’s cheek.

“You’re so much like Saga. So powerful. So invulnerable. You think you can just lift your fist and change the hearts of people… You can’t. But…I do feel better. When I’m with you, going to sleep is better. I have less nightmares, I don’t feel like I have to lie about anything, and everything is just…better,” he said, burrowing his face against Rhadamanthys’ neck. “And that’s all I want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it. We've reached the end.
> 
> I’ll be honest and say that I wrote this because I had a great need for writing Aioros holding tiny Aioria. Then I also wanted the threesome for the beginning, and of course I felt like I hadn’t explored Saga’s perspective during all the stuff that happened in “Returning” with Kanon.
> 
> In fact, when I thought back to Saga’s portrayal there, I didn’t like how incomplete it seemed. It’s not that it was incorrect, it was that it was too one sided when all the events were seen and emotionally processed from Kanon’s perspective, which made Saga seem unidimensional as a character and which annoyed me a bit because I like characters to be more complex.
> 
> So here I set off to figure out what was going on in his mind and as I drafted the outline I kept coming back to the thought that “sometimes there’s nothing you can do” about some things. But not in a defeatist sense but rather in an understanding that you cannot control the hearts of other people, or the things that happened in the past, or the body that you were born with. In essence, some things are up to “the will of the gods” or rather “the nature of the world” and it’s a hard thing to understand and accept. Especially for those people who usually have been able to, through their own will and actions, determine most of their fate, such as Saga. But for others who ended up getting the short end of the stick, such as Kanon and Aioros, it is a self evident fact of the world. In showing their stories I tried to present the sense of “I only have my hands and the fate I have born with, and I’m gonna push them to take me as far as they can”. Aioros with his struggle to gain the Sagittarius cloth while taking care of Aioria, and Kanon with his own struggle of living in Saga’s shadow while trying to find his place in the world. Saga in turn, had to deal with his darkness and the repercussions that it left in his mind. For Saga, the first step in healing was accepting reality as it was, and accepting that he would have to fix the things inside him that were broken.
> 
> But to do that he first had to accept that he was weaker than the all powerful concept of himself that he had. In Saga’s mind the only thing that could stop him was his own darkness, and there was a constant belief of “If I can find it and destroy it then everything will be fine” and which completely ignores the independent will of everyone around him who was also affected. It was a humbling process for him, but which ends up in him relying in the strength that others give him more than in his own strength. The whole journey was a mind exercise in surrender in a way. In letting go and accepting.
> 
> Whelp. I think I had more to say about this story than I thought! Sorry for that. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading and arriving all the way here. I hope you have enjoyed this journey as much as I enjoyed writing it and please let me know your thoughts.
> 
> You can find me on twitter as @alexdamien  
> For updates on my writing go to alexdamien.wordpress.com


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